Platinum
by TreeLover394
Summary: A retelling of Pokemon Platinum from Dawn's perspective. Better summary inside! Rated T for safety, plus minor blood/violence.
1. Chapter 1

Summary: As Dawn, a newly proclaimed Pokemon trainer, sets off on a journey from Twinleaf town, mysterious things happen. The guardian of Dawn's local lake (Lake Verity) has requested that she find it and its brethren. Normally, this is somewhat of an honor, but when the reason for the summoning is the guardian's danger, it puts a damper on things. Join Dawn and her friends, Barry and Lucas, as they travel through the Sinnoh region and fulfill their destinies.

...

Dawn turned her new trainer card around in her hands, lost in thought. She was sitting in her room, getting ready for a picnic at Lake Verity with her friend, Barry. They had both passed the trainer exam, and could legally own a Pokemon of their own, among other things. They also no longer had to commute to Sandgem Town's trainer school every day.

"Dawn! Are you ready for our picnic yet?" Barry yelled upstairs to Dawn's room.

"Not yet, just wait a minute!" she replied. Dawn tried to get ready as quickly as she could, because she didn't want to keep her friend waiting any longer. She changed out of her school uniform and brushed her black hair, then prepared to return downstairs. She had changed into a white t-shirt and jeans, with a red trench coat over it. She also wore pink Ugg boots, a white hat, and scarf.

Barry was waiting, fidgeting with his bag, and sitting with Dawn's mother in their front room. There was already a picnic basket waiting on the table, filled with chips, sandwiches, and a few other snacks.

Dawn came up behind Barry, stole his signature beanie, then grabbed the picnic basket. Barry let out a yelp of protest, then took the beanie back. This was a regular routine between the two long time friends, and Dawn's mother sighed knowingly each time she saw it play out.

Barry was a very impatient boy, as Dawn knew all too well. He had dirty blonde, curly hair that he covered up with his favorite beanie, worn partially because of the cool fall weather. It was worn mainly because it was a gift from his father, earned from his first Pokemon battle. Barry was not the kind of person that Dawn would normally become friends with. He was more of a class clown, always getting into trouble with everyone. Dawn usually followed the school's rules. One of the few times she had broken them, she had punched an older boy in the gut. The older boy was about to hurt Barry, because of one of his silly pranks. That's when they had become such loyal friends.

"Why don't you two get going before it gets dark," Dawn's mother suggested.

"Alright," Dawn said, "You ready, Barry?"

"Argh… I've been ready since we got out of school." Barry replied with an exasperated sigh. Barry walked out of Dawn's house, and just as Dawn was about to leave too, her mother grabbed her attention.

"Oh, and one last thing," Dawn's mother whispered, just loud enough for Dawn to hear, with a teasing grin, "Have a nice date!" At this, Dawn immediately reddened. This was not a date, as far as Dawn knew, and she was mortified that her mother thought it was. She quickly looked out the door to see if Barry had heard. He had not, but Dawn was still upset. She sighed lightheartedly, said a quick goodbye, and ran to catch up with Barry.

"So… what are we going to do now that we have trainer cards?" Dawn asked, now walking to the lake with Barry, "Anyone over the age of 16 with a trainer card can legally go on an adventure, you know."

"Yeah. I was thinking about taking the league challenge. I know I'd get to be the champion," Barry said with his usual confidence.

"That's what I thought you'd say," Dawn said with a laugh, "I don't know what I want to do. I might attempt the league challenge with you. I might even stay here for a while," she shrugged her shoulders, "I dunno."

They made small talk for the rest of the walk to the lake. The lake was located in a clearing in the woods near Twinleaf Town. It was a short walk from the Town, which was why so many small children went to play there. It was so close to town, that if you yelled in the clearing, the townspeople would be able to hear. When the pair reached the lakeside, they chose a spot to sit, laid out a blanket, and sat down, watching the Magikarp and Psyduck splashing in the lake. Right when the pair got to the lake, however, Dawn began to feel dizzy. She shrugged it off as nothing, and the feeling soon went away.

The two friends talked about plans for the future as they ate, but Dawn was no closer to a decision about the league challenge. Just as it was getting dark, Dawn and Barry decided to go back to the town. When they finished cleaning up the picnic, Dawn felt the dizzy sensation again. As before, she shrugged it off as her blood rushing to her head or something, and went on with cleaning up. Just as Dawn was leaving the clearing, though, she began to feel dizzy again, now even more so than before.

"Woah," she said, swaying precariously. Barry ran over to her, wondering what was going on.

"You okay?!" He asked, his worry for her evident in his voice. He had finally reached her, and tried to support her, but to no avail.

A weak, "Yeah…" was all Dawn could muster.

"Arceus!" Barry exclaimed, "What's going on?!" _Good way to treat someone in my condition, _Dawn thought, _whatever my condition is._

Dawn shook her head, feeling weaker by the minute. She sunk to the ground, and watched as her surroundings blurred before her eyes. _What was in those sandwiches?_ She thought. Suddenly, she wasn't in the familiar lakeside anymore. She could only see black, though she still felt like she had her other senses. Her mind raced; what was going on?

"Hello? Is anybody here?" Dawn yelled. Her only reply was the echo of her own voice.

After a little bit, a figure approached. As it got closer, Dawn thought she could make out some features. It looked like a Pokemon, its body silvery gray and its head pink in coloring. It floated in the air, though it had no wings. Its four pink ears (at least, Dawn thought they were ears), came off of its head in all four directions, like hair. Its face was blank. On the Pokemon's forehead was a red gem, and there were matching gems on its two tails. The gems were flickering ominously, though, which made Dawn nervous.

The Pokemon came towards her, and she could sense something about it. The feeling was fairly familiar, though Dawn was sure that she'd never seen anything like it. All of the sudden, Dawn could hear something. A sentence, reverberating around inside her head.

"Come… My brethren and I… trapped. You are… chosen one."


	2. Chapter 2

As Dawn woke, she only opened her eyes slightly. She could hear something, though she couldn't make out what it was.

"She's awake!" Barry's voice yelled, relieved. Dawn groaned, her stiff body aching. She shifted positions, which only caused her more discomfort. She heard steps from outside of whatever room she was in. Barry had probably just called for someone. The door opened, and someone stepped into the room.

"Honey?" Dawn's mother asked, searching. It was comforting hearing her voice, after whatever Dawn had been through. Dawn opened her eyes slowly, then blinked a few times from the light. She could see her room, with her mother and Barry standing over her.

"What happened?" Dawn asked.

"That's what you should be telling us." Barry said, "After you collapsed, I called your parents. They came and helped me carry you home. We brought you up here to your room, and you've been out for two hours."

"Really?!" Dawn questioned, sitting up, "It only felt like I was with that Pokemon for ten minutes."

"What Pokemon?" Both Dawn's mother and Barry asked in unison.

Dawn described her encounter with the pink Pokemon, and the message that it seemed to telepathically communicate to her. They both waited patiently and didn't interrupt until Dawn was done.

"Wow," Dawn's mother sighed, "I have no idea what might have happened. If this is all true-"

"What?" Dawn demanded, cutting her mother off, "Of course it's true! Why else would I have been knocked unconscious for two hours?"

Sensing a fight, Barry stepped in, "I don't know why that happened, either. Maybe the professor will know."

Dawn hadn't thought of that yet. Maybe the region-renowned Professor Rowan would know what had happened. As plans of telling the professor about her episode at Lake Verity whirled through Dawn's head, she thought of a flaw in the original plan.

"But the professor is about to leave for that newly discovered region - Kalos, I think it was?"

"Then we'd better leave for Sandgem now!" Said Barry, "I'll go tell my parents what's been going on, and where we're going!" Already assuming he was going with Dawn; why was she even surprised anymore? Barry ran out the door, leaving Dawn and her mother to consider what to do next.

"Do you think you're ready to travel? You've been through a lot in the past few hours." Dawn's mother asked, her voice lined with concern.

"Yeah, I think I'll be fine," Dawn said, "If anything happens, Barry or I can go to a Pokemon Center and call you."

"Alright, but be careful of wild Pokemon, and don't exert yourself too much for a while," Dawn's mom instructed, handing Dawn a Repel, and a Potion from her purse.

Dawn's mother walked over to the door, once in the doorway, she stopped.

"Wait in here a minute, okay?" Dawn's mother requested. Dawn obeyed, only walking over to her white bag to put her new items inside of it, and looking over it's contents. Her new trainer card in the front pocket, a map of the Sinnoh region, her school things, some healing items, and a few Repels. Still slightly tired and wondering what her mother was doing, Dawn walked back to her bed, and sat down. After a few minutes, her mother came back with a gift box. The box was short, but long, a rectangle of about a foot in length

"This is for you, since you just passed your exam," said Dawn's mother, while holding out the box.

Dawn picked it up, opened it, and looked inside at the contents.

She gasped, "A Poketch!" She had wanted one of these high tech watches for so long, and now here it was in her hands! Dawn opened the box, finding a nearly useless charging cord (useless because of the watch's new solar power), the manual for setting up the watch, and the watch itself. Poketch's had a few features; all of them downloadable apps, a way to call people, etc. As Dawn looked at her Poketch, she saw some of the pre-downloaded apps. Things like a step counter, a calculator, an actual watch face, and a Pokemon wellness checker were some of the things that came with the Poketch. Maybe if Dawn made her way to Jubilife City, and the Poketch Company, she could add more apps.

Just as Dawn put it on, admiring it, she heard Barry knocking on the door downstairs.

"My parents agreed that we should find the Professor. Let's hurry to Sandgem Town!" Barry yelled. "We need to go soon, though, 'cause it's almost 5:30."

_Wow_, thought Dawn, in disbelief, _Already past 5:00?_ She looked at her mother questioningly, who only nodded in agreement.

"Thank you so much, mom!" Dawn said on her way out of her room. "Not just for the Poketch, for everything."

Her mother smiled, "Have a good, safe trip. And now that you have a Poketch, I expect to hear from you."

"Okay! See you as soon as we can!" Dawn said, eager to figure out what had really happened.

...

A/N: Hey! I'm sorry about this short chapter, but the next one will be much longer.

Thank you to all of you fine people who have supported my story. Every Follow, Favorite, and Review, makes me more excited to continue this story!

Also, I just want to mention, this story is pre-written up to about chapter 9 (and is still being written) so I'll try to make updates every other day until I run out of story to post (which will hopefully never happen).


	3. Chapter 3

Minutes later, Dawn met Barry on the outskirts of Twinleaf Town. This time, heading towards Sandgem Town, and not Lake Verity. Both of them both applied a Repel, and made their way towards the tall grass separating the two towns. Usually, there was a bus that took people back and forth from Twinleaf Town to Sandgem Town. Dawn and Barry couldn't use it, though, because it only ran when the trainer school started, when the trainer school ended, and when the work day ended. Most everyone in town had a few Repels, though, just in case a situation like Dawn and Barry's occurred.

The pair made short work of the route, and found themselves in front of the Professor's lab before they knew it. The town's attractions included a Pokémon Center, Pokémon Mart, a few houses, and of course, the trainer school/Pokémon Lab.

"Well here we are," Barry said.

"Thanks, captain obvious," Dawn replied, lightly shoving Barry on the shoulder. He smiled at her, used to their playful banter. Taking up a more serious tone, Dawn continued, "Arceus, I wonder what's going on…"

For a moment, Dawn and Barry locked eyes. Dawn thought she saw something — an unfamiliar look in Barry's eyes — but he blinked it away. The two trainers entered the lab, passing the area that acted as a school hallway, and walked towards the back where the Professor would be. He was standing at the table in the middle of the room, studying a Water Stone and muttering something about evolution.

"Hello Professor Rowan," Dawn greeted, in attempt not to startle him. The Professor looked over at Dawn and Barry, and though he was preoccupied, a warm look of recognition came over him. Dawn continued with her explanation, "I had a question about something that happened while Barry and I were at the lake." Dawn quickly explained what had happened with the pink Pokémon, and its strange message. Professor Rowan looked amazed, his mouth agape.

"I've never heard of anything like this, I believe it to be a telekinetic mental cry for help." He said, "I am familiar with the Pokémon you described. It is most likely Mesprit; the mythical guardian of our own Lake Verity. Do you know of its legend?"

It took a moment for this to sink in. Of course Dawn knew Mesprit's story, all of the children knew the lore of their local lake. After being created by Arceus, and giving the human race the gift of emotion, Mesprit came to Lake Verity, and entered a long slumber. Supposedly, it has guarded Lake Verity since the lake was created, sleeping in a hidden cavern within its depths. Suddenly, Dawn remembered another part of Mesprit's story.

"In the message, Mesprit mentioned brethren. Do you think it was talking about Uxie and Azelf?"

"Oh, yeah!" Barry said, interrupting Professor Rowan with his sudden recollection. Dawn had almost forgotten that he was still there, she was so absorbed in telling her story and carrying on her conversation with Professor Rowan, "I remember the rest of the story now! Along with Mesprit, Uxie and Azelf were created. They were supposed to give knowledge and willpower to the human race, along with Mesprit's emotion, right?

"Yes," said the Professor, seemingly unperturbed by Barry's enthusiasm. "I believe that Uxie and Azelf were also involved in the communicating of your vision. While I don't believe they were actually present, relaying the message with Mesprit, I think they were involved somehow. I wonder if there are others like you…" Professor Rowan trailed off, leaving his last sentence very quiet. "No — I shouldn't."

"What do you mean, not tell us? Why?" sputtered out Barry, "If it's about Dawn, I think she has a right to know…"

"No, no. If I'm right, you'll find out in due time. Anyhow, you two just passed your trainer exams recently, yes?"

"Oddly, yes. Just today, actually." Dawn said. She thought she knew what was coming, but she didn't want to believe it until she heard it."

"Well, I know most parents want to give their children an opportunity to catch their first Pokémon, or give them the Pokémon themselves, but I think your parents will be okay if we make an exception here. I happen to have three Pokémon, myself. I wanted to save them for three specifically chosen students, students who aren't afraid to work hard… to become trainers. I believe you two are suited for the job, it would would leave only one remaining position to fill" The Professor turned around, looking at the door, as if expecting something.

"Wait… so you mean…," said Barry, still processing what the Professor had said. "Dawn and I could get Pokémon!" The excitement in his voice was palpable, and he was bouncing on the balls of his feet. Dawn was ecstatic at the possibility as well, smiling wide. She, along with Barry and one other lucky student, would get one of the Professor's Pokémon. The Professor had routinely given students Pokémon; only three students per graduating class. There had been people striving to get this Pokémon through their whole school careers. Dawn had never even thought she was in the running for one of his prized Pokémon, much less likely to get it.

"So who's the other student?" asked Dawn. The Professor replied with a slight nod in the direction of the door. Suddenly, the door was pushed open. The boyish looking person that had walked through the door saw the Professor in the back of the lab and hastened towards him.

"Sorry I'm late," he breathed out, as if all one word. As Dawn got a little closer, she recognized him as Lucas, someone from her school. He had dark hair, covered with a red hat that he also always wore. Just like everyone else, he wore clothes suited for the chilly fall weather. Dawn recognized him mostly because they were often paired together during school. She knew him to be a good worker, and a responsible person. He was very shy, however, and for that reason, Dawn almost always had to do the presentations or explanations of their work.

"I was just telling Dawn and Barry, you three will each be the recipients of one Pokémon. Now that you are here, Lucas, I can elaborate. The three Pokémon that I give out each year are given to me by Professor Oak in Kanto," at this, all three trainers-to-be perked up. Professor Oak? He was the Professor that started the original tradition of Professors giving a Pokémon to a few select graduates at the end of every year. Since the start, the trainer legal age limit has increased, and procedure has become even more strict, but Professor Oak started it all.

"The Pokémon are to be given to a few trainers, and along with those Pokémon, a Pokédex. The Pokédex is a high tech device that records the data of any Pokémon you catch. I want you three to catch as many Pokémon as possible, and gather as much data as possible in your Pokédexes."

"Wait…" Dawn said, a questioning tone in her voice, "We get Pokémon? We get to go on a journey? Cool! But, Professor, what about the… thing I came to talk to you about?" Dawn was careful to avoid giving too many details away, because of Lucas. She really didn't feel like explaining her situation again. He did raise an eyebrow at Dawn to express his curiosity, but nothing more.

"I'll talk to you about that later, and yes, you three do get to go on a journey" said Professor Rowan, "I will go get the Pokémon now. You three may decide for yourselves who gets to choose first." With that, the Professor walked away from the three, deeper into his lab to get the Pokémon.

"So…" said Lucas, "I can't believe we each get to choose one of the Pokémon."

"Yeah…" Dawn trailed off, thinking. Her mother would never let her go on an adventure with her new Pokémon. Or would she? Dawn was officially old enough, and there were tons of trainers who left to participate in the gym challenge as soon as they graduated. What was stopping her? Besides, she had a chance of finding out what had happened to her, and even more puzzling, what the message from Mesprit meant. Lucas and Barry's talking brought Dawn back to reality.

"… So we've settled it, then. Dawn, you get to choose your Pokémon first, then me, then Barry," said Lucas.

"What?" Dawn asked, perplexed. "You guys chose already? Why was I chosen?"

"I'll tell you later," Barry said quietly. Dawn knew he was hiding something, and intended to question him further, but at that moment, Professor Rowan walked in with a small briefcase.

"Here they are," Rowan said, "When you've all chosen, come talk to me. I need to give you each your Pokédex, if I can find all three of them." With those directions, Rowan opened the briefcase, set it on the ground, released the Pokémon, and walked into the back of the lab where he had retrieved the briefcase.

Moments later, there were three Pokémon sitting on the ground in a momentary daze. "Chimchar, Piplup, and Turtwig…" Dawn muttered. She had recognized these Pokémon from a lesson in school. She knew from school that they were the first three Pokémon in the Sinnoh Pokédex. No wonder Professor Oak had chosen these Pokémon.

For a moment, Dawn watched the three Pokémon play, but after a moment, picked up the struggling Turtwig. It had fallen over onto its back, and Dawn wanted to help it out. As soon as she turned it over, it came over to her and nuzzled her leg. Noticing the competition, the other two Pokémon came over as well.

"I…" Dawn began, knowing that her decision had to come soon, "I choose this Turtwig. He seems to like me too." Barry and Lucas both nodded their heads, urging her to pick it up. Dawn bent over, and picked up the Turtwig, who made itself comfortable in her arms. It did, however, watch the group of humans warily.

"Alright," said Lucas, "I'll take this Piplup!" The Piplup stumbled towards Lucas, as if it knew that it had been chosen. It curled up around one of his legs, and rested.

"Great!" Barry declared, "I wanted this Chimchar anyways." Hearing its name, Chimchar bounced up and down around Barry. They seemed to have similar personalities.

"Wow!" Exclaimed Barry, whose Chimchar was already curled around his neck, "A Pokémon of my own… Let's go talk to Professor Rowan, then maybe we can battle."

The three new trainers picked up their respective Poké Balls, and walked towards where Professor Rowan had disappeared. As they got closer to where the Professor was, they started to hear a rattling noise, presumably the Professor looking through his stores. Just as they reached the door, they heard a louder noise, as if a full set of pots and pans had fallen to the ground. Directly following this, the students heard the Professor yell, then mutter about ladders, Pokédexes, avalanches, the need for an assistant, and maybe a vacation. All three students made eye contact, nervous.

"I'm okay!" He yelled. Shortly after that, he came outside, holding three Pokédexes albeit a bit cut up,. "Here they are," he breathed out. After showing the young trainers the most important and helpful features, the Professor let them go.

"Oh, Dawn, wait a moment!" Professor Rowan said discretely, waiting until Barry and Lucas had left the building with their Pokémon before he had added anything else, "If anything happens involving the Mesprit, please tell me."

"Thanks Professor, I will. I may really need your help figuring this out. I'll keep you updated," Dawn promised. The Professor entered his number into her Pokétch, just to be sure, and let her go with her new Turtwig. When she got outside, it was dark. She met up with Barry and Lucas, who were letting their Pokémon play, and greeted them.

"Ugh," she sighed, "I do NOT want to walk all the way back to Twinleaf Town in the dark." As Dawn spoke, her Turtwig lept out of her hands and onto the ground. It began to play with the two other Pokémon.

"If you both want, you two can probably stay at my place. We have an extra bedroom with two beds. And there's always the Pokémon Center. Most Pokémon Centers offer food and lodging."

"Good to know," Barry replied, "I'm sure we'll use the Pokémon Centers a ton during our journey."

"Yeah, I had no idea the Pokémon Centers also offered human beds and food," Dawn added, "I think we should probably go to the Pokémon Center first, and call our parents. My mom knows that I'm in Sandgem Town, but I should probably tell her what's going on. So much has changed since I left Twinleaf Town."

"Alright, see you guys in the morning," Lucas said, picking up his Piplup. He clicked the button in the middle of Piplup's Poké Ball, just like the instructors at school had taught all of the students. A light beam shot out of the Poké Ball, enveloping Piplup completely. Abruptly, the light ceased to shine, and Piplup was gone; into the Poké Ball until she was called again. With a smile and a wave, Lucas walked away.

Dawn and Barry let their Pokémon play for a little bit longer after Lucas left, then stood up. "Well," said Barry, "We should probably get to the Pokémon Center. It's late. Maybe in the morning, we can have a battle!" Barry smirked, as if laughing at a personal joke, "I'm sure I'll win,"

Dawn rolled her eyes, "Oh, yeah, and you're a professor too, I suppose," she said sarcastically. Barry sighed, still smiling, and retrieved his Chimchar, then started towards the Pokémon Center. Dawn did the same, attaching Turtwig's Poké Ball to her bag's built in carrier. As she got a better look at the Poké Ball, she noticed that it had a small screen on it, with the Pokémon's species, moves, health, experience, level and optional nickname. Her Turtwig was level five, and knew Tackle and Withdraw.

When Dawn entered the Pokémon Center, she was astounded by how big it was. It had a desk with a nurse and a healing machine behind it, a bunch of tables, a food court, and two stairs leading up to the bedrooms; one for girls and one for boys. The Nurse behind the counter greeted Barry and Dawn, and they approached her desk.

"Hello, welcome to the Pokémon Center. Would you like me to heal your Pokémon?" She asked. She sounded as if she had she had said it a thousand times.

"No, actually. We'd like to rent two rooms," Dawn said.

"Alright, one room each?" Both Dawn and Barry nodded,"Great, I'll get you set up."

"Thank you," replied Dawn. The Nurse walked behind her desk, and set up the new Pokémon trainer's rooms. Dawn and Barry looked at each other.

"Tomorrow, we should try to battle!" Dawn said excitedly.

"Why can't we battle now? We can bond with our Pokémon while the Nurse sets up our rooms." Barry replied.

"Okay," Dawn said, as the Nurse reentered the room.

"Your rooms are all set up. Here is your key," she said, handing a key to Barry, "And here is yours," she continued, handing a key to Dawn. "Your rooms numbers are on your keys. We hope to see you again," Once the Nurse finished talking, Barry and Dawn walked outside into the dark. They walked a short distance, and found a large area meant for battle. The each walked to separate ends of the area, and prepared for battle.

Dawn retrieved her single Poké Ball, and released Turtwig. It once again made itself comfortable in her arms.

"Alright," she said, speaking softly. She didn't know if her Turtwig understood her, but she liked talking to him anyways, "We're gonna battle against my friend Barry. He's…" she took a moment to search for the right word, "looking after your friend, Chimchar. Chimchar's fire-type attacks are super effective against you, so dodge them if you can. What else…" Dawn looked across the battle area Barry and she had chosen, and saw him encouraging Chimchar in the same way she was Turtwig. Curious, Turtwig also looked at its opponent, and leapt out of Dawn's arms, ready to battle.

"You ready?" Dawn yelled. Barry replied with a nod of his head, and sent out his Chimchar. Seemingly aware of the battle's start, Turtwig also moved to its proper spot.

"Chimchar, use Leer!" Barry yelled. On command, Chimchar sent a fierce glare across the battlefield, intimidating Turtwig, and lowering his ability to attack.

Dawn thought for a moment, because that was all she could afford during a battle, "Turtwig, use Tackle!"

"Dodge that, Chimchar!" Barry said, albeit too late for Chimchar to react to Turtwig's tackle, "Use Scratch!" Before Dawn could say anything, the attack hit Turtwig.

"You can do it, Turtwig. Use Tackle again!" This time, Turtwig hit a weak point in Chimchar's defenses.

"A critical hit! No fair!" Yelled Barry across the battlefield. Dawn and Barry's class had learned about critical hits during their battle strategy class in school. It was when a Pokémon hit a soft spot in another Pokémon's defense. Often, it was unpredictable, but with certain items or moves, it could become more likely. The hit left Chimchar swaying on its end of the battlefield, possessing only enough energy to stay standing.

"I guess I win!" Dawn yelled to Barry. She walked into the battle arena, towards Turtwig. "Great job, little guy. Y'know, I need to think up a name for you. Hmmm," she said, "Oh! I know. I'll call you Atlas!"

Moments later, Barry walked over to Dawn's end of the battle arena, "You beat me! That critical hit saved you, though, 'cause I was gonna win."

"Oh, really?" Dawn asked, purposefully bumping into Barry as the pair started towards the Pokémon center.

"This'll be the last time you win, Dawn. I know it." Barry said, with his ever-present smug smile.

"Alright. Whatever you say, champion-to-be," Dawn teased, "You know, I nicknamed my Turtwig after the battle. He shall now, and forevermore be known as Atlas," Dawn said, adopting a silly, vaguely Kalosian, accent.

Once the duo made it back to the Pokémon center, they said goodnight, healed their Pokémon, and went to their rooms. Dawn's room was nothing special. It included a human bed, another bed that looked like a Pokémon's, a table with a chair, and a nightstand. It also had another door, leading to a bathroom.

When Dawn had gotten settled, she released Atlas. He explored the room with some caution, then once satisfied, came up to Dawn. His first attempted to jump on the bed where she was sitting failed, knocking him over onto his back. Dawn righted him, then allowed him to try to get on the bed again. Atlas tried to grip the side of the bedding with his feet, albeit unsuccessfully. Dawn chuckled, and hoisted him up onto the bed. Atlas walked over to Dawn, and settled in her lap. She began to pet him, and speak to him in soothing tones like her mother used to do to her.

After about a half-hour, Dawn heard the soft sound that indicated Atlas' sleep. She picked him up, and set him down on the Pokémon bed provided by the Pokémon Center. Shortly after, Dawn went to sleep, suddenly wondering why Barry and Lucas had chosen her to pick her Turtwig first.


	4. Chapter 4

Dawn did not sleep well this first night in the Pokemon Center. She first dreamed of Mesprit, and its message for her. The message repeated thousands of times, and with every time it was said, a load weighed on her shoulders and on her mind. The burden of it was nearly too much to bear, Barry and Lucas appeared, also under the strain of the mysterious weight.

With them, two others approached. Dawn thought them to be Uxie and Azelf. One was yellow, with the same silvery gray coloring as Mesprit, but its eyes were closed. The other was blue with the same silvery gray color, and elf like ears coming off of its head. They all had the same flickering red gems on their foreheads. Now, Dawn heard all three Pokemon mentally conveying their message.

Dawn tried to contact her friends, but when she opened her mouth, no sound came out. With all three Pokemon telepathically communicating their message, and the weight still plaguing Dawn, she felt helpless. After what felt like an hour, but was actually only a few minutes, all three Pokemon went silent. With the quieting of the message, the power over Dawn and her friends released its grip. Dawn realized she had been hunched over, and slowly stood up. Before she could speak a word to her also recovered friends, the Pokemon's eyes suddenly closed. The gems on their foreheads went completely black, and they collapsed.

...

That morning, Dawn woke up, sweaty, and still quite tired. The dream she had the previous night had shaken her more than she cared to admit. Why had the three Pokemon collapsed? Did Dawn even have a slight chance of saving them now? With these thoughts in mind, Dawn got ready for the day.

She had decided to head back to Twinleaf Town and tell her mother the great news about Atlas. Dawn could have just called home using her new Poketch, but it didn't feel right. She got her few possessions together, careful not to wake up Atlas, then retrieved him to his Poke Ball. After getting ready, Dawn walked back down into the Pokemon Center's main plaza. She ordered a small breakfast from the food court, and sat down at one of the booths to eat. She also let Atlas out once again, as he had awoken.

By the time Dawn and Atlas had finished breakfast, Barry walked down. They shared a quick good morning, then discussed what they would do next.

"I think I'm going to head back to Twinleaf," Dawn said, "I need to tell my mom about Atlas, and ask if I can attempt the gym challenge."

"Really? I wanna get to the next town as soon as possible. I think it's Jubilife City! I wonder if it has a gym…" Barry said.

"I don't think think it does, but I'll check" Dawn pulled out her map of the Sinnoh region. "Jubilife City… it doesn't say anything about a gym. Just the Poketch Company, another trainer school, and the TV station. That'll be cool to see!"

"Where's the closest gym to Jubilife?" Barry asked.

"Looks like it's either Canalave City, or Oreburgh City. Their gyms are Steel or Rock type respectively. Ooh," Dawn wrinkled her eyebrows, "looks like we need a Pokemon who can travel on water to get to Canalave City. Oreburgh it is, I guess."

"Alright, see you in Jubilife. I'm gonna check out the TV studio and Poketch Company. Then I think I'll go check out the Oreburgh City gym." Barry collected his things, and made his way out the Pokemon Center. Soon, Dawn did the same, also checking her and Barry out of their rooms. Once outside, Dawn saw the Pokemon Mart next door to the Center. She also saw Lucas waiting outside of his house, and walked over to him.

"Hey," Lucas said, "Was that Barry running off to Route 202? I knew he was eager to get going, but I thought he would at least wait a little longer… Anyways. where are you thinking of going next?"

"I'm thinking of going back to Twinleaf Town. I need to tell my mom about my Turtwig, Atlas." Dawn had almost forgotten that Lucas didn't know Atlas's name, "How about you?"

"I think I'll stay here for a bit. Piplup and I still have some preparing to do."

"Alright, then I guess I'll see you when I get back!" Dawn said. She turned to leave, and Lucas tapped her shoulder. When she turned back, he was blushing profusely.

"Uhhh… see you later!" Lucas said quickly. He wasted no time walking back into his house, and moments later, Dawn heard Piplup's cry. She shrugged her shoulders, and made her way back onto Route 201. This time, however, she and Atlas were ready for the stream of wild Pokemon the appeared whenever Dawn didn't wear a Repel. Only a few steps into the route, a wild Pokemon appeared before Dawn. She recognized it as a Bidoof.

"Go Atlas!" Dawn said as she clicked the button on the Poke Ball. As Atlas came out of his Poke Ball, he fell onto his back again. Dawn chuckled, and quickly righted him.

"Use Tackle, Atlas, then dodge its attack." The Bidoof chose to use Growl, snarling, and making Atlas hesitate with his attack.

"Okay, Atlas, use Tackle again!" This time, the Bidoof used Tackle as well, and did a minimal amount of damage to Atlas. One more Tackle from Atlas brought the Bidoof down.

"Great job, Atlas! You're getting better and better at these battles," Dawn said. After she retrieved Atlas to his Poke Ball, she slowly made her way back to Twinleaf Town, battling along the way. At around 10:00 AM, Twinleaf town was in sight. Dawn started mentally preparing for her conversation with her mother. While her mother was more compliant than many, Dawn didn't think she would be very happy about her daughter attempting the Pokemon League Challenge. Dawn knew she would be gone for some time if she did attempt the challenge, and thought of rebuttals for her to say.

By the time she had reached her home's doorstep, Dawn had the whole conversation planned, down to her mother's retorts to her arguments. She knocked on the door, and heard her mother scramble downstairs to answer the door.

"Oh, hello, Dawn! I was wondering where you were. Where did you stay the night? Have you eaten? What did the Professor say?"

"Hey, mom. Don't worry, geez, I was fine. I stayed at Sandgem's Pokemon Center. You know, they have rooms that they rent out and a food court, along with the Pokemon stuff. I already ate breakfast there with Barry. By the way, The Professor said he didn't really know what was happening with my dream. He thinks the Pokemon communicating with me was Mesprit, and that Uxie and Azelf were also involved," Dawn purposefully left out all information about last night's dream, because that was probably just her imagination. "Other than that, we don't really know much.

"The Professor also said something else. He said that Barry and I are great students. We, along with one other person, got a Pokemon! The other person was Lucas, the kid I've done a few projects at school with. Anyways, we got to chose one Pokemon each. I even got to choose first! The Pokemon were Turtwig, Chimchar, and Piplup, and I chose," Dawn paused for a moment, "Turtwig! His name is Atlas." With that announcement, Dawn let Atlas out of his Poke Ball. After landing on the ground rather smoothly, Atlas came over to Dawn. He eyed her questioningly, presumably asking if Dawn's mother was okay to play with. Dawn nodded yes, and Atlas went over and nuzzled her leg.

"Wow…" she trailed off, slightly amazed, "All of this happened in one night... I'm happy for you and Atlas, though. What do you think you're going to do now?"

"Well," Dawn started, "I think I'm going to challenge the Pokemon League. I know you probably don't want me to go, but Barry has already started, and Lucas is going to leave later today, and-"

"Dawn," her mother said calmly, "You can go."

"What?" Dawn was taken aback, "You're letting me go? Without even needing to be convinced?"

"You're 16, now. You've passed your trainer exam, and I trust you to make smart decisions," Her eyes suddenly teared up, "You've already made me so proud..."

"Aww, mom, don't get all sappy on me," Dawn sighed, "Thank you so much for letting me go."

Dawn and her mother chatted for a bit longer, then her mother put some food and some other helpful things in a bag, "I know you can do it, honey. Be sure to call!"

"I will," Dawn chuckled. She made her way out of her house, meandering towards Lake Verity. She had wanted to visit the Lake since she had accepted her Turtwig and decided to take the gym challenge. Now, with the thought of her leaving in mind, Dawn approached the lake.

Entering the familiar clearing, admittedly with more caution that the last time she came, Dawn felt a surge of sadness come over her. She didn't know how long it would be until she saw Lake Verity again, and that gave her a feeling of hopelessness. Trying to lift her spirits, Dawn walked up to the edge of the lake. She intended to put her feet in the water and relax a bit before she set off to Jubilife City. Instead, she saw a man. Dawn didn't recognize him, and could not see what he was doing at the edge of the lake. He had unnatural, light blue hair, and an odd suit on. Dawn slowly approached him, and heard him muttering to himself. She inched closed until she could hear him clearly.

"… So mark my words, legendary Pokemon of the lakebed. You will hear the name Cyrus again, and next time, it will not be under such… comfortable circumstances. Sleep while you can, for soon, all will belong to me! Bwahahaha!" The man, apparently named Cyrus, raised his arms in a truly maniacal laugh. It was enough for Dawn to back away from her hiding spot, exiting the clearing. She snuck back to the entrance, went around a corner, stood up, then walked back in. Cyrus noticed her, and slowly walked out of the clearing, eyeing her all the while.

"Step aside, please," Dawn noticed that, while he had said please, he talked in such a commanding tone of voice, Dawn didn't think she could refuse.

No longer in the mood to relax at the lake, Dawn turned around and headed back to Twinleaf town, and from there Sandgem and Jubilife. As she walked, she thought about what happened at Lake Verity. Cyrus had talked to the Pokemon as if he hadn't already captured it, but according to her dream, he definitely had. Dawn was very confused about this, and decided to ask Barry about it when she saw him next.


	5. Chapter 5

Soon enough, Dawn found herself at Sandgem town, the last of her trio to have left. She made her way to Route 202 and faced the tall grass. She realized that she had no Poke Balls. Before she could even turn around to go to the Poke-Mart, Lucas saw her from up ahead on the Route. He slowly made his way over to her, luckily not running into any Pokemon.

"Oh, hello," he said, "Are you just setting off now?"

"Yeah," she replied, "I just got back from Lake Verity." She considered telling him about Cyrus and Mesprit, but decided against it. He didn't yet know about Mesprit's message, and Dawn had no intention of telling him about _that_ yet.

"Cool. Hey, do you have all of the materials you need to get going? Cause, y'know, I noticed you looking at the Poke-Mart, and stuff so I just assumed that you needed something..."

"Yeah, I was actually just about to go back and grab some Poke Balls. I just remembered I never bought any."

"Oh," Lucas paused for a moment, "Well I bought some extra ones while I was in the Mart, so you can have some if you, uhh, want any."

"Sure, yeah! Thanks for saving me a trip," Dawn went into her bag, looking for her wallet, "Here's the money for them."

"Oh, no. It's on me." Lucas gently closed Dawn's hand around the money she was offering him.

"Alright, if you insist," Dawn felt a pang of guilt. Lucas was being so kind, and she was keeping such an important part of her journey from him, "You ready to go to Jubilife?"

"Yeah, let's go," Lucas said. The pair made their way to the tall grass, then split up.

"I want to see what kinds of Pokemon can be found here," Dawn said, "You probably already know."

"Yeah, I've lived around here all my life," Lucas said, "I'll go on ahead."

"Okay, see you!"

Dawn trekked deeper into the tall grass, and took in the scenery of the route. It was midday, the sun high up in the sky. The tall grass took up about half of the route, with the other half being shorter grass and trees. On the short grass was a few trainers. They were all years younger than Dawn and her friends, and all presumably lived in Sandgem town.

Dawn was walking through the tall grass with the intent of battling one of the trainers, but nearly tripped over a Pokemon. It was blue, yellow, and black. It was no taller than two feet, and at first sight looked like an electric type. Slowly, Dawn recognized it as Shinx. She was unsure, though, because she had only seen them once or twice. Shinx were rarely seen in the wild, because they so often stayed out of sight. When they were in sight, they were zipping around, no more than a blur of color.

Dawn's mind began to race with questions about the Shinx. _Why is the Shinx still not moving? Why is it not with its pack? Where is its pack? Is it hurt?!_ With the final question, Dawn started panicking. It being hurt was the most realistic option, of course. It had most likely gotten injured, been unable to move, and been abandoned by its pack. Dawn's heart wrenched just thinking about it.

Now, looking more closely, she saw the Shinx's face contorted in pain. Its fur was matted from being outdoors all of its life, but the mats also had traces of blood in them. The ground underneath it was also stained slightly red.

She didn't know what to do to save it, though. They hadn't covered this in trainer school. Turning the poor creature over might wake it up, or even damage the wound more. She couldn't heal whatever injury it had by herself, either. She didn't have the materials, or the know-how to do so. After a minute or two, she couldn't bear to see the Pokemon suffer any more, and decided to take it to a Pokemon Center as carefully as she could.

She enlisted the help of the three youngsters on the route, and soon had made a makeshift stretcher. Dawn and one other child put the Shinx on the stretcher, and carried it to a Pokemon center. Because of all of the movement, the Shinx's eyes fluttered open. It tried to move its head and look around, but was evidently in too much pain to. Dawn spoke in a soothing tone, not caring what she said, to calm the Pokemon down.

Once Dawn and the youngster (named Tristan) made it to the Pokemon center, the Nurse took over. Dawn sent Tristan back to route 202, and, having nothing else to do, thought about the Shinx she had saved. She hoped to catch it and use it on her team, but knew that it might not be possible. With the injuries that it had received, it might never be able to battle again, much less want to.

Soon enough, the Nurse appeared from behind the counter. Dawn approached her cautiously.

"How is… it?" Dawn said, realizing that she didn't know the Shinx's gender.

"_She's_," the Nurse emphasized the word, "doing fine now that she's receiving care. She had a long gash on her left side when you found her. Most likely, she got into a battle with another Pokemon or a trainer and lost. Usually, Pokemon heal naturally from being knocked out in the wild, but this one couldn't. Don't ask me why, though, 'cause I don't know. Anyways, it may be a while before Shinx is ready to leave my care, so it would be wise to go do something else while you wait. You will take the Pokemon, right?"

Dawn stuttered for a moment before the answer came out, "Yes, of course I'll take Shinx in." Even if she couldn't battle, she couldn't go back into the wild after that injury. It would break Dawn's heart to see her go into foster care, too.

"Alright," the Nurse said, "It's settled, then. When Shinx has recovered, you will take her in."

"Thanks," Dawn said. The nurse went back into the back room where Shinx was being held, leaving Dawn alone. She didn't want to leave the area, because of her commitment to the Shinx, but was at a loss for what to do.

After a moment's deliberation, Dawn decided to call Barry on her Poketch. He still didn't know about Cyrus, and Dawn thought it was important to tell her best friend about her eerie encounter with the man. She found an empty table in the back of the Pokemon Center, and called him.

_Beep. Beep. Beep. _"Hello?" Barry's voice appeared on the other line.

"Hey. It's Dawn."

"Oh, Hey! What's up?"

"Well y'know how when I last saw you, I was going back to Twinleaf town for a bit, to say goodbye to my mom and stuff? Something happened when I was visiting Lake Verity," Dawn said

"Wait a sec, let me get to a better place to talk," for a moment, Dawn heard shuffling on the other line, then it was quiet again, "Alright, what happened? Did you have another dream?"

"No, no, but this is probably related to it," Dawn went on to describe her encounter with Cyrus, speaking quietly for fear of someone overhearing her, "It's really weird, though, because he talked to Mesprit as if he hasn't already captured it, and he obviously has."

"What?" Dawn could hear Barry's shock over the phone lines, "For the 16 years I lived in Twinleaf Town, nothing really interesting happened, then the day we leave, this guy shows up?! I feel cheated…" Barry chuckled.

"Yeah, yeah, I know," Dawn said, also laughing lightly, "The whole thing's really weird. But what do you think happened?"

"I don't know… Maybe Mesprit can see into the future?" Barry said, still smiling.

"Oh, yeah, the being of emotion can see into the future. Sure fits the job description."

"Oh, you know what I mean…" Barry said, "Anyways, I have no idea what this 'Cyrus' guy could want with Mesprit."

"Me either… Well thanks for listening, anyways. I'm glad I could at least tell someone what happened. I have a feeling he's going to do something… Act on those threats he made to Mesprit. Or maybe he already has," Dawn said with a shiver.

"Yeah, I think he's definitely going to be important to your relationship with Mesprit," Barry said.

"Well, anyways," Dawn said, seeing the Nurse approach her table with Shinx, "I gotta go! I didn't get to tell you, but I'm about to catch a new Pokemon that I rescued before I called you!"

"What? Cool! What happened?"

"I'll tell you later," Dawn said, "Bye!" Dawn turned off the call. She glanced at the time as she got up to address the Nurse. It was midafternoon, hours after she had found the Shinx. Time sure flew by during her conversation with Barry.

"Hello, Dawn," the Nurse said, "This Shinx is doing much better now, though she won't be able to battle for at least another day or two. She is also very shy and skittish around anyone who isn't me, or apparently you," Having struggled to get out of the Nurse's hands since she saw Dawn, Shinx finally freed herself. She leapt from the Nurse's arms, and landed on the ground by Dawn's feet.

"Is there anything, like medication or something, that I'll have to give to her while she recovers?" Dawn asked.

"No, just let her take it easy for a few days. Make sure she doesn't battle, ect. She can walk, but if she looks tired, give her a break, and maybe some water. You got that?"

"Yup!" Dawn said.

"Alright, then. Hope to see you again!" the Nurse said as she walked away.

Dawn turned her attention to the Shinx laying at her feet. It had played around for a bit, then got tired and laid down. Dawn carefully moved her feet out from under the Shinx, and picked her up. Completely clean, and without the gash, she looked so much better. Dawn got out a Poke Ball from her bag, and pressed the button in the middle, catching the Pokemon. She could see Shinx through the invisible bottom half of the Poke Ball, and decided on a nickname.

"Oh, I know!" Dawn said, "I could call you Nala!" Dawn almost thought she could hear Nala purring from inside her Poke Ball, evidently approving of her new name.

As much as Dawn wanted to eat dinner and settle down for the afternoon, she got up, and walked out of the Pokemon Center. She wanted to get to Jubilife City, at least, before she called it a night.

Going through Route 202 was a breeze. All of the youngsters looked at her as a hero for saving Nala, which was weird to her. She battled them all with Atlas, and shared with them what happened to Nala.

Soon enough, however, Dawn came upon the bustling Jubilife City. She had heard about it quite a bit, because almost all TV was produced and filmed here. It also had the booming Poketch company headquarters. Aside from those landmarks, there was a trainers' school, and a few condominiums. There was also a large, colorful building that Dawn didn't recognize. She advanced towards it, and saw that it was called the GTS; Global Trade Station. Dawn didn't know what that meant, but she assumed it was a place where people traded Pokemon. She had vaguely heard about it opening on TV one day. She retraced her steps, going back to the entrance of the city and a businessman approached her.

"Hello! I see that you have a Poketch! I am the chairman of the Poketch company," The chairman puffed out his chest, obviously proud of this title, "We are currently holding a promotional campaign for Poketch, would you like to participate?"

"Oh, cool. Uhh, sur-"

The chairman cut Dawn off once he realized that she was going to say yes, "Good, good. For this campaign, you will be searching for clowns holding Poketch coupons. For each coupon you find, you'll get an upgrade to your Poketch! Good luck!" The chairman spun around on his heels, and walked back into the city.

Dawn decided that this would be a long, tedious, task, and moved her focus to the rest of Jubilife City. The city was loud - everything seemed to be happening at once. The lights from all of the buildings were astounding to Dawn. She was especially amazed because of the time of day, it was almost dusk and the lights were just starting to glow brightly. Dawn decided to check one building out, the one closest to her. It was the other trainer's school. She walked through the crowds of people quickly, and got to the trainer's school with ease.

Inside, she didn't find very much of interest. It was almost identical to Sandgem's trainer school in shape and layout. The only differences were decorations and things like that. While walking through the hallway, Dawn saw a light on in one of the classrooms. Curious, she peeked through a were some kids, presumably in detention, throwing paper airplanes and misbehaving. On the blackboard was a rudimentary Pokemon type lesson. Rudimentary only to Dawn, though. The lesson was perfect for this age group of children.

Dawn decided to leave the trainers school, having seen everything she could inside of it. In the doorway, she saw Barry and Lucas, also leaving the school. She called out to them, and they moved into the play area to talk.

"Hey! You made it to Jubilife," Barry said, "So, it's been killing me, what were you going to tell me before, at the end of your call?"

Lucas had a confused expression on his face, so Dawn explained what Barry was talking about, leaving out the talk about Cyrus. Then she explained what happened with Nala.

"Well I found a wounded Shinx on Route 202, and took her to the Pokemon Center to get healed. She had this crazy gash on her side that didn't heal naturally for some reason. Once she had been healed, she grew attached to me, so I decided to catch her. Her name is Nala."

"Weird… I wonder why she didn't heal on her own. Wild Pokemon usually do that, right?" Lucas said.

"Yeah, that's why the Nurse and I were confused." Dawn said, "Anyways, you guys found each other in this huge city? Impressive."

"Well, we were both healing our Pokemon, so not to much of a surprise," Barry said with a shrug.

"Oh, okay. Anyways, I think I'm going to head to the Pokemon Center. I'll explore the rest of the city tomorrow."

Both of the boys agreed to this, and the three of them rented rooms, then parted ways. Once Dawn was settled in her room, she let Nala, then Atlas out of their Poke Balls, in effort to introduce them. Nala was at first very scared, and hid near Dawn. Once Dawn assured her that Atlas was safe, however, she grew more comfortable. Soon enough, they were playing around like best friends. After a little while of watching them play, however, Dawn decided to go off to sleep.


	6. Chapter 6

After having explored most of Jubilife City, Dawn got a call on her Poketch.

"Hello?"

"Hey, Dawn, it's Lucas. The Professor apparently decided to come into town today, and he's gotten into a fight with some people in weird spaceman costumes. They call themselves Team Galactic," at this, Dawn's stomach dropped. She had heard of this "Team Galactic" because of some protests they did in Sandgem Town one day while she was at school. They were talking about a perfect world, and how humans should change themselves before something terrible happens. Dawn was really spooked by this message, as were all of the other kids at her school, "Anyways, they're harassing the Professor to give them his research on evolution. He's, of course, resisting, but I think they could overpower him if they wanted to. Come and help?"

"Against Team Galactic? Of course," Dawn paused, "They creep me out. I wonder what they're up to…"

"I dunno. Anyways, see you in a bit. Oh, we're at the East exit to the town, by the way."

"Alright, I'll be there in five." Dawn turned off the call. She made her way over to where Lucas said they'd be, and pushed her way through the forming crowd. Once she was at the front, she saw two odd looking people, a man and a woman, both wearing what looked like spacesuits without the glass head cover. The suits were white and gray, and both of their hair was aquamarine. That was by far the weirdest part of their ensemble, as it reminded Dawn of the strange man from before; Cyrus. Dawn recognized them as Team Galactic grunts, the underlings of the organization.

"Come, now, Professor," said the female grunt, "Give us your research, and we shall spare your assistant quite a bit of pain." At this, Lucas cringed, then grumbled that he wasn't the Professor's assistant. He subtly held out his Poke Ball, as if he would release his Pokemon at a moment's notice if anything happened. He was, though scared looking, very determined. He looked over and saw Dawn, and looked relieved.

"Oh," the Professor chuckled, "You know I have no intention of doing that-"

"Okay, that was the last chance, old man," the male grunt said. He rummaged around in his pocket for a moment, and pulled out a Poke Ball. When he released his Glameow, it was vicious looking, foaming at the mouth and baring its teeth. There was an audible intake of breath from the crowd, and Professor Rowan backed up. The Galactic thug smiled dryly. "You ready to give up your research, yet, grandpa?

"Not in the slightest. Children, get away from here now. It's too dangerous."

"Not to be rude, or disobey my elders or anything, but I think we can take them in a Pokemon battle," Dawn pulled out Atlas's Poke Ball, and along with Lucas, approached the Galactic grunts. The Professor simply nodded, and backed away.

"I don't think so," Dawn said, "We challenge you to a Pokemon battle!"

"Alright, whatever," the male grunt said.

In a flash, the three other battlers pulled out their Pokemon. "Go, Atlas!"

"Piplup, I choose you!" Lucas sent his lone Pokemon out onto the battlefield.

"Stunky, would you kindly destroy these little brats?" The female grunt sent her Pokemon out, and, as both Lucas and Dawn had guessed, it was as vicious looking as the Glameow.

All four trainers ordered their Pokemon.

"Glameow, Scratch the Piplup!"

"Alright, Piplup, use Bubble. Target both Pokemon!" Glameow's Scratch did minimal damage to Piplup, and Piplup carried out her trainer's order confidently, blowing bubbles from her mouth. Both enemy Pokemon were visibly shaken, but they were both still in the fight.

"Stunky, use Smokescreen." Stunky carried out its orders and used Smokescreen, turning around and spraying Atlas and Piplup with a foul smelling, difficult to see through, smoke.

"Atlas, you can do it! Use Absorb on the Glameow once the smoke clears!"

Atlas, still recovering from Stunky's Smokescreen, used Absorb. He succeeded in knocking out the Glameow, who's trainer yelled out in protest. Piplup and Atlas had a small celebration, and then got back into the battle.

"Stunky," the female grunt said, her voice lined with hatred, "Do better than your incompetent partner, and Tackle that Turtwig!"

"Great job, Atlas! Now dodge that!" For a moment, the Stunky stood there, then used Tackle. As he charged, Lucas commanded,

"Piplup, Stunky's defenses are down while it's running! Use Bubble now!" Once Stunky came upon Turtwig, too slow to dodge Stunky's attack, Piplup used Bubble. Just as Lucas planned, the Stunky was defenseless, and it was hit with the full force of the Bubble. He fainted, and Lucas and Dawn were proclaimed to be the winners.

"Nice job, Lucas! That hit at the end was perfect!" Dawn said.

Lucas blushed, "Well, Turtwig dealt the final blow to Glameow. That was great, too."

As the two winners were congratulating each other, the Team Galactic thugs looked at each other, and sprinted to the North, saying something about honey. Dawn almost ran after them, but noticed that Professor Rowan was coming near.

"Good job, you two," Professor Rowan said, "You both battled very well. It is hard to believe you only got your Pokemon a few days ago; they have bonded with you so much."

"Thanks, Professor. We wouldn't have even gotten these Pokemon if not for you, so thank you," Dawn said. Lucas nodded, but didn't say anything.

"Well, I'm glad you're putting them to use and bonding with them so much," Professor Rowan said. After some thought, he continued, "I'm sure you want to chase down those Team Galactic grunts, but you cannot. First off, It is of my opinion that they have a base somewhere to the North of here, and they must have stronger Pokemon if that is so. Also, you need Rock Smash to pass through a cave that way. To get Rock Smash and use it outside of battle, you need to defeat the Oreburgh City gym leader, Roark, in battle. I suggest that as your next course of action."

"Oh, okay," Lucas said, obviously disheartened that he couldn't go after the Galactic grunts.

"Alright, then. Off to Oreburgh," Dawn said, "That's where Barry and I planned to go next anyways. He's probably already on his way."

"Well then you'd best catch up with him, so he doesn't get too far ahead of you," Rowan said, smiling. With that, he let them go.

After healing her Pokemon, and getting some quick directions from the locals, Dawn set out for Oreburgh City in the East. Just as she was passing through the gate, however, she was approached by Barry.

"Hey! I saw your battle with Lucas earlier. Nice job! Also, we've both gotten stronger since our last battle. Let's battle again now."

"Oh, hello. Sure, let's battle! Why don't we go onto the route first, though. Also, thanks! That was a stressful battle, against someone as strong as Team Galactic," Dawn said. The duo walked onto Route 203, and got their Pokemon out.

"You should see my new Pokemon, Dawn! Go, Starly!"

"Go, Atlas!" Dawn said. She knew she would be at a type disadvantage against Starly, but she didn't know if Nala was ready for battle yet.

"Starly, use Quick Attack!" Barry said. Starly followed his order, and zipped over to Atlas, tackling him.

"Alright, Atlas. Use Withdraw!" Dawn said. She wanted Atlas to be protected from super effective attacks, so she told him to raise his defenses, and protect himself with his shell.

"Starly, use Quick Attack, and go for his unprotected flesh!" Starly did just that, and got a critical hit against Atlas. He cringed in pain as he was hit, though he was still able to battle.

"Atlas, use Absorb to get some health back!" Atlas conjured some vines up out of nowhere, and sent them to Starly. They sapped about half of Starly's health, and then healed Atlas about half of that much.

"Okay, Starly, use Quick Attack again! This should knock him out."

"Atlas! One more Absorb!" The two trainers said their commands at the exact same time, though Barry's Starly moved first. Starly's hit left Atlas momentarily dazed, but he recovered quickly and used Absorb for the knockout.

"Yes!" Dawn said, "But why didn't you use any super effective attacks?"

"Well, Starly doesn't have any flying type moves yet…" Barry said, embarrassed, "But here's the star of the show! Go Chimchar!" Barry sent Chimchar onto the battlefield, and he came out, looking excited. Atlas perked up, seeing his new friend, but was still ready for battle with him.

"Chimchar, use Tackle!" Chimchar did just that, running up towards Atlas and Tackling him with his full body weight. It didn't do a ton of damage, which confused Dawn. Why didn't he use a super effective attack this time? Chimchar surely had learned one, Atlas had.

"Alright, Atlas," Dawn said, "Use Absorb! You'll gain some health back!" Atlas used the move, though it did very little damage to Chimchar.

"Time for the main event! Use Ember, Chimchar!" Dawn cringed as Chimchar sent a ball of fire towards Atlas. Atlas barely held on, thanks to the Withdraw.

"Atlas, you okay?" Dawn asked, her voice lined with concern. He gave a slight nod of his head, but looked weak. She wanted to pull him out of battle, but she couldn't do that without sending Nala in, or forfeiting. Dawn pulled Nala's Poke Ball out of her bag, and looked at it. Just as she was about to put the ball back in her bag, and forfeit the match, the ball began to shake. Suddenly, Nala broke out of her Poke Ball, and looked at Dawn. She had a very determined look on her face, seemingly ready for battle. Dawn looked at Nala questioningly, "Are you really okay to battle?" She asked in a low voice. Nala only nodded, "Atlas, come back! Nala, you've got this!"

"Ooh, so that's your other Pokemon. Chimchar, use Tackle!" The Tackle wasn't very strong, but Nala still cringed as it came near her. She looked scared, but had a determined glint in her eyes.

"Nala, use Tackle!" Nala rushed forward, and tackled Chimchar. It did a small amount of damage, but still, Nala looked proud.

"Alright, Chimchar. Ember!"

"Nala, dodge that then use Tackle!" Nala sidestepped the fiery attack at the last second, and then used Tackle again. It did about the same amount of damage as last time.

"Chimchar, Ember again!" This time, Nala didn't avoid the attack, and it did a dangerous amount of damage.

"One more Tackle should do it, Nala! Go for it!" Nala used the attack, and Chimchar fainted.

"Nice one, Dawn. Your Pokemon did really well," Barry said as he walked over to shake hands with Dawn.

"You did really well too. If Nala hadn't stepped up, I wouldn't have done nearly so well." Barry went to retrieve his Pokemon, and Dawn checked on Nala. She looked tired, but happy she did so well. She went to nuzzle Dawn in the leg, and Dawn picked her up.

"You did really well today, Nala. I'm proud of you. I know you're still a little afraid of battling, but you'll be fine with us. I know your old family left you, but we're your family now. And we'll never leave you," At the end of this, Dawn had tears in her eyes. As Barry approached her again, she quickly retrieved Nala, and wiped the tears from her eyes.

"Well it's about lunch time. Why don't we go heal our Pokemon and eat lunch at the Pokemon Center?" Barry asked.

"Sure, let's go," Dawn said. The two did exactly that, and an hour later were fully fed and ready to go to Oreburgh City.

...

A/N: Hello! Thanks for reading this far into my humble fan-fiction, first off. Second, I might be unable to post consistently for the next week or so. Real life has happened. :0 (And I'm running out of edited chapters...)


	7. Chapter 7

"Alright, see you in Oreburgh!" Dawn said to Barry, who had decided to train up his Pokemon a bit before going off to Oreburgh. Route 203 was a breeze for Dawn, and before getting to Oreburgh, had found some items on the ground, and battled some trainers.

Soon enough, she found herself at the gate to Oreburgh, which was, strangely enough, a tunnel. Entering it, she saw a ton of one type of Pokemon hiding in the dark ceiling of the cave. She pointed her Pokedex at one of them, and found that it was a Zubat. She also saw lots of rocks on the ground. At one point, she stepped on one, realizing that it was a Pokemon as well. Battling it didn't do much except tire her Pokemon out and slow her down, though, so she decided to avoid them for now.

"HELLO THERE!" She heard an incredibly loud, male, voice say. She tried to turn around and look at whoever had made the noise, but her sight was blocked by tons of Zubats, awakened by the voice, and now swarming the cave. There were at least 100 in the small space, so Dawn ducked and got out of the way until the Pokemon cleared out. After about five minutes, they calmed down, so Dawn got up. There were still a few Zubats, and the person who had yelled was still out of sight, so Dawn battled a few of them, aiming to catch one. She chose the one closest to her, and battled him.

"Go, Nala!" Dawn said, though not as loud as she normally did. She had Nala use Tackle twice, making the Zubat tired, and less likely to break free of the Poke Ball. She threw a Poke Ball at the Zubat, who broke free on his first try. The next two Poke Balls were like that too, wasted, and escaped from quickly. Dawn decided to try one more Poke Ball, her only Great Ball, and then if that failed, stop trying. It shook once, twice, and then clicked, signifying a successful catch.

"Yes! Finally!" Dawn said, careful not to cause another Zubat swarm. She picked up her new Pokemon's Great Ball, and released him. He looked with longing at his old home, seemingly not excited to go with Dawn. Dawn released her two other Pokemon, who introduced themselves, but the Zubat still looked upset, and slightly angry. Dawn sat for a moment to think of a name for her Zubat, retrieving all of her Pokemon. After 5 minutes or so, she thought of one. She released her Zubat to tell him.

"Your new name is Drew. How do you like it?" Drew looked at Dawn, still upset because of being caught, but also seemingly content with the name. After Dawn retrieved Drew, she set off, going deeper into the cave. Soon, she heard the male voice from earlier again, only slightly more quiet.

"Hello!" He said "It's you again!" The voice came from a burly man, with hiking clothes, and a backpack on. He definitely was prepared to be in this mountain for a while. Dawn looked up, and confirming that there were no Zubats nearby, replied.

"Oh. Hello! You really startled me and the Zubats earlier. I assume you want to battle?"

"Yes, that's why I was so enthusiastic when I saw you," Dawn noticed that he had the same enthusiasm that he had before, just with a slightly quieter voice. She guessed that he showed his happiness with volume, not tone, "I'm sorry I ran off so soon, by the way. I was trying to avoid the Zubat storm."

"Oh, that's okay. Anyways, let's battle! Go Nala!"

"Oh, silly child," he chuckled, "You don't know what you're up against. Go, Geodude!"

"Ooh, you're right," Dawn said. She didn't think a Geodude was a good reason for the dramatic entrance, but she knew what the man meant. Geodude's ground type was super effective against Nala's electric type. Dawn knew what to do, though, "Nala, come back! Go, Atlas!"

The Geodude used Tackle, then Atlas knocked it out with Absorb.

"Good job, kid. You battled well. For that, I'm going to give you this; The Hidden Machine for Rock Smash. To teach it to a Pokemon, just insert the disk into a Pokedex or Poketch, and let your Pokemon watch the instructional video."

"Thank you, sir. I think I'll be on my way now, though." Dawn walked away, and, battled the two other trainers in the cave. Almost through the cave, she thought about Team Galactic. They seemed to be getting stronger, and Dawn was growing wary of them. Their motives were still unclear to Dawn, but she had a very bad feeling about them.

Once Dawn was out of the cave, and her eyes had adjusted to the light, She saw Oreburgh City. It looked like a mining town, coal dust and other minerals covered everything in town. It had a Pokemon Center and Mart, the Gym, and a museum near the entrance to town. There were also some houses, and the mines near the back of town. It was still early in the afternoon, so Dawn decided to look around.

She first approached the Gym, only to be stopped by a man. He was an older man, wearing all brown clothes, and glasses.

"Hey there, Champ to be! You here to challenge the gym leader of this town, Roark?"

"Yes, I am. I was going to look around the town before I battled him, though. Is he here?" Dawn asked, trying to be polite and make conversation.

"As a matter of fact, he isn't. He's down in the Oreburgh mines right now, helping out the workers. If you find him down there, he'll definitely come up and battle you." The man stood in front of the door, obviously not planning on letting anyone in until Roark was there.

"Oh, okay, thanks for that. I'll go check it out."

The man loosened up a bit "Okay. Glad I could help."

Dawn decided to do as the man suggested, and find Roark. She was planning on battling him in the morning, but Dawn decided to let him know that a challenger was waiting.

At the entrance to the mines, Dawn was greeted by weird looks, and suspicious glares from the workers. She guessed that very few young girls came that way. The workers were doing things like opening up rocks to find ores, and organizing those ores. This area was even more coated in coal dust than the rest of the town, and all of the workers wore face masks, so Dawn picked one up from a table nearby, and put it on.

Inside the mines, not a lot happened. Mostly, people and Pokemon worked together to pry rocks out of the walls and floors. Dawn made her way through the seemingly endless tunnels of the mine, getting directions from workers (whom she also battled), and finally found Roark. He had short, reddish hair, mostly hidden beneath a hard hat. He had on gray pants, and a vest, with a black shirt on underneath. He also had on black boots and white gloves. He was standing near a Geodude, who was facing a boulder.

"Hey," he said, motioning her over, "Check this out. I can use a Pokemon with the move Rock Smash to crush small boulders. Geodude, use Rock Smash!" The Pokemon did as it was told, ramming into the rock with its own rock-like body, and the smaller one burst into pieces. "See? Pretty cool, right? You can do it too, if you beat the Gym Leader of this city. That's me!"

'Uhh, yeah. Cool," Dawn said, slightly uncomfortable from Roark's odd entrance to the conversation, "So you're the Gym Leader here, then?"

"Yeah! I inherited the position from my Dad, the leader in Canalave."

"Oh, interesting," Dawn said, "So I was wondering if I could battle you tomorrow. I just got here to town today."

'Yeah, let's battle!" Roark said. He reached for his Poke Ball, but Dawn stopped him.

"I actually think we're supposed to battle in the Gym. And I was hoping we could battle tomorrow instead, because it's getting kind of late," Dawn realized she sounded condescending, and tried to stop herself. She wanted to stay in this guy's good graces, if she could. It was odd, because Roark was at least a few years older than her, but he seemed very childish.

"Oh, really? What time is it?" Roark said, apparently forgetting about the watch he already had on. Dawn checked her Poketch, and told Roark the time.

"It's about five. Actually, I'd better go. I wanted to check out the town before I went to sleep for the night."

"Alright, bye!" As Dawn walked away, she saw Roark waving happily. Once she returned to the surface, she looked around town a bit more. At the Poke Mart, they had the same things as the other Marts Dawn had visited. The museum was really interesting to Dawn, and she knew everything there would be really amazing to a friend of her's in Johto, a neighboring region. Dawn was more interested in mythology, so she gravitated towards the ancient texts, and myths section of the museum. She also checked the fossil Pokemon section of the museum. There, she learned that there was a recent outbreak of fossils containing Cranidos and Shieldon.

Leaving the museum, Dawn was hungry, so she made her way to the Pokemon Center to eat and sleep for the night. Once there, she ordered food, and let her Pokemon out to eat. She told Nala and Atlas Drew's name. He was sitting on of the posts in the ceiling, built for flying types, communicating with another trainer's Zubat. Dawn left him, and all of her other Pokemon, to their own devices as she went onto her Poketch. She had decided to call her mother, who she hadn't talked to since she left Twinleaf.

Their conversation mostly involved what Dawn had done so far: finding Nala, Jubilife City, battling Team Galactic with Lucas, battling Barry, and Oreburgh City. At the part of her story with Team Galactic, her mother gasped. She fussed for her safety for a bit, then Dawn was able to continue her story.

After the call, and once Dawn had rounded up all of her Pokemon, she rented and retired to a room. There, it was all she could do not to fall straight asleep. She released her Pokemon so they could sleep, and then went to sleep herself, Nala and Atlas playing in the background.


	8. Chapter 8

In the morning, Dawn got ready for her battle with Roark. She had decided to mainly use Atlas in the battle, because he would be super effective against all of Roark's Pokémon. Once Dawn was ready, had eaten breakfast, and had bought a badge case from the Poké Mart, she set out for the Oreburgh Gym

The man from earlier, now standing inside the Gym, told Dawn what types of Pokémon might be useful in battling Roark. Though she already knew, she still thanked him, then left for the actual Gym. It was two walls of rock, with a few paths going up, towards the gym leader. One path, the easiest and shortest of them, had two trainers waiting on it. The other one required a bit more climbing skill, but it avoided all of the trainers. Dawn decided to battle the trainers, to get her Pokémon fired up for the gym battle.

Both of them were easy to defeat, and soon enough Dawn was standing in front of Roark.

"Hello again, trainer."

"Dawn is my name, actually."

"Well then hello, Dawn," Roark's voice was lined with sarcasm, almost contempt, then he adopted a more normal tone, "I presume you're here to battle?"

"Yes," Dawn was starting to feel weird about this guy.

"Well then I, Roark of Oreburgh City Gym, challenge you to a gym battle! Go Geodude!" All of the gym trainers and the man from earlier looked over to the battle. There was even a small group of people who had come to watch for fun. Among them was Barry and Lucas. Knowing this, Dawn smiled.

"Atlas, go! Use Absorb!"

"Geodude, Rock Polish!" As Atlas prepared to use his attack, Geodude polished his body, reducing drag and gaining speed. When Atlas used his attack, he knocked out the Geodude in one hit.

"What!? My precious Geodude!" Roark cried, "Go Onix! Use Rock Throw!" Onix did exactly that, picking up a large chunk of mud, and throwing it at Atlas. It hit him directly, but luckily for Atlas, broke on impact.

"You okay, Atlas?" At the nod of his head, Dawn continued, "Alright, use Absorb!" The attack knocked the Onix out, and shocked Roark.

"Another one of my Pokémon, knocked out!? Go Cranidos! Use your Headbutt!"

"Alright, use Absorb again, Atlas!" Cranidos prepared to charge Atlas, his head in front of him, while Atlas prepared his Absorb attack. Atlas attacked while Cranidos was charging, which slowed him down considerably. The attack still did a good amount of damage, leaving Atlas very tired. Atlas' attack almost knocked Cranidos out, but he just barely hung on.

"Hah! Not giving up yet!" Roark yelled, "Use Pursuit in case he tries to switch out!" Propelled by his own dark thoughts, Cranidos rushed forward to attack Atlas. Atlas was hit by the attack, leaving him nearly unable to battle.

"Atlas, use Absorb again! Just one more attack, you can do it!" Atlas carried out the attack, and successfully knocked out Cranidos, too dazed from his previous attack to dodge.

"W-what? This can't be true! My buffed up Pokémon!" Roark cried. He looked down at the ground, and stomped his foot. The crowd whooped and cheered for Dawn, the winner of the battle.

Roark sighed, crossing his arms, "Hmph. Now that you've won, I guess I've got to give you the Pokémon League Coal Badge," Roark reached into his pocket, and pulled out a shiny, metal object. He handed it to Dawn, who was able to get a better look at it. It was a small badge, silver on the outside and brown on the inside. It was shaped similarly to a piece of coal, with a rounded top, and a flat bottom. It had a few silver lines running through the middle of it, connecting in the middle to form a six sided shape.

"Thank you," Dawn said, about to retrieve her Pokémon and walk away. To her surprise, Roark grabbed her shoulder, asking her to wait.

"Here, since you did so well in our battle, you can have this TM, too," He handed her a disk, the TM for Stealth Rock, as it said on the front. As Dawn returned a very tired Atlas to his Poké Ball, she was approached by a few of the people who had watched the battle. They congratulated her for a bit, then Dawn was able to get away from the crowd. She decided to retreat to the Pokémon Center, and choose where to go next.

Just as Dawn entered the Pokémon Center, she was startled by a familiar voice behind her, "Hey, great job in that battle." She turned around to find Barry standing in the doorway.

"Oh, thanks! I'm so happy that I was able to beat my first gym leader! And before you, at that."

"Actually…" Barry pulled a Coal Badge out of his newly bought badge case, "I beat you to it."

"Aww, you should have told me! I could have came and watched!"

"Yeah, well… It was kind of early, and I didn't want to make a huge deal out of it." He said uncharacteristically, "I dunno," He and Dawn began to walk towards a table, "Hey, so which town are we planning on going to next?"

"I don't know… I hadn't given it much thought. Maybe Hearthome? That's pretty close," Dawn said, pulling out her map of Sinnoh, "To get there, we have to go through Mt. Coronet. Should we do it?"

"I don't know… I think it says here," Barry said, pointing to the map, "that we need a bike to get through. Do you have a bike? I don't."

"Oh… That's true. Maybe Eterna City? That's pretty close," Dawn looked more closely at the map, "Oh, never mind. To get there, we need to go through the Cycling Path, which we also need a bike for. Geez, where are bikes even sold? We're definitely going to need one sometime. And it'll make traveling go way faster."

Both Barry and Dawn scanned the map's city descriptions, "Ah! Here it is!" Barry said, "It's in… Eterna. Hmm. I guess we're going to have to go there anyways. Oh, hey! At least there's a gym!"

"Yeah, looks like it's a grass type gym. The leader is some girl called Gardenia. Sounds like a good place to go. My only worry is, how are we going to get there?"

"Well, we can either go up through Mt. Coronet, or back to Jubilife, then up through Floaroma Town," Barry said, tracing the routes on the map with his fingers.

"Well, we need a bike to get through Mt. Coronet, so Floaroma it is!" Dawn folded up her map, and put it back in her bag, "I'm going to see if I can find Lucas, and tell him where we're going next."

"Well, I'm ready to go," Barry said, "So I'm going to head back to Jubilife, and then head North, I guess," Barry said, exiting the Pokémon Center.

"Alright, see you soon!" Dawn said, packing up her things. She recalled her three Pokémon, who she had released upon being healed, and walked back outside into Oreburgh. Deciding that Lucas was probably at the gym, battling Roark, Dawn walked in that direction.

Entering the gym, Dawn was proven right. She saw a large crowd standing in the lower levels of the gym, and in the highest level, Lucas and Roark's battle raging. Lucas had Piplup out, and Roark was sending out his final Pokémon, his Cranidos. Both trainers had determined expressions on their faces as they said their commands, and watched their Pokémon.

"Piplup, use Bubble!" Lucas said

"Cranidos, charge into the bubbles to pop them, then use Headbutt!" Roark said.

"Oh, wait Piplup! Wait until the last minute to use your attack! Dodge so that Cranidos rams into the wall first!" Lucas's counter attack worked perfectly. Roark tried to correct his Pokémon, but it had already begun to charge. Cranidos tried to slow down once Piplup moved out of the way, but it failed, and crashed into the wall. Disoriented, the Cranidos was unable to dodge the bubbles Piplup sent its way. That attack knocked it out.

Roark, beaten for the third time in one day, handed over a Coal Badge, and the TM for Stealth Rock, then retreated to a room in the back of the gym. Lucas tried to avoid the crowd and leave the building. He was unsuccessful, and was mobbed by the people who had watched the battle.

Dawn waded through the crowd, trying to get to Lucas, until she reached him. He was visibly distressed by the amount of people near him, a more intense version of what Dawn had experienced after her gym battle. She helped him get out of the building, telling a few white lies to the more persistent onlookers. The two went to a bench near the museum, a ways away from the gym, and sat down.

Lucas sighed, "Thanks. I didn't know how I was going to get out of that."

"No problem. They were trying to talk with you for a good reason, though. That last move you pulled off in your battle was incredible."

"Oh, you saw that?" Lucas's face reddened, "Well, thanks. I just didn't want my poor Piplup to get Headbutted by that thing."

"Aww…" Dawn said, smiling, "Well you did a really good job."

"Thanks… You know, your battle was pretty cool, too," Lucas started. The two talked about the battle strategies used in each of their battles for a while, then Dawn remembered why she had sought Lucas out.

"Oh, by the way, Barry and I decided to go to Eterna City next. There's a grass type gym leader there. Anyways," Dawn pulled out her map, "we're going to head back to Jubilife City, then go through Floaroma to get to Eterna, since we can't take the Cycling Path or go through Mt. Coronet without bikes."

"Oh, cool. That sounds like a good place to go next. I guess I'll be heading that way, too."

"Good," Dawn said with a smile, "So, do you want to head back to Jubilife now? I'm ready to leave this city… Not that I didn't like it or anything."

"Yeah, I'm ready. Let's head out together. Maybe we can fight in some more double battles! That first one went so well, after all…" Lucas trailed off, an embarrassed smile on his face

"Yeah! That'd be a lot of fun!" Dawn said. Lucas's embarrassment was wiped off his face.

The pair left town quickly, and made it through the Oreburgh Gate and Route 203 at a leisurely pace, enjoying one another's company. Once they reached Jubilife City, they saw a man standing where Dawn and Lucas's battle with the Galactic grunts had occurred. He seemed to be investigating something, hunching over and using a magnifying glass. Dawn and Lucas walked up to him, thinking that they might be able to help with this man's investigations.

"Hello, sir?" Dawn asked. The man looked up, "What are you doing? It looks like you're investigating something, but we can't tell."

"Ah, so it seems you've recognized me…" Dawn and Lucas were bewildered. Recognized him? "My name is… No, I'll just tell you my code name for now. My code name is Looker. I am a member of the Interregional Police, but it seems you already knew that."

"No, uhh, sir" Lucas said, adding the "sir" at the last second, "We didn't know that before."

"But, Mr. Looker, what are you doing here?" Dawn added in, her curiosity getting the best of her.

"Why, I'm investigating of course!"

"Yes, but what are you investigating, sir?" Lucas pressed.

"The evil affairs of Team Galactic," Looker said, "They have been stealing Pokémon, and are no doubt up to something malicious. I take it two young people battled two Team Galactic grunts here yesterday. I'm trying to figure out who the young trainers are, and from there where Team Galactic went."

"Oh, really?" Dawn was smirking from the irony, "Well, we're actually those young trainers. What could we do to help with your investigation?"

Looker gasped, "Well! I've found you at last. It would be most helpful for you to tell me where the Team Galactic members went after you battled them, and what Pokémon they used," Looker pulled out a pad of paper and a pen, and looked at Dawn and Lucas expectantly.

Lucas backed away slightly, so Dawn spoke up, "Well there was one guy, and one girl trainer. The guy used a Glameow, and the girl used a Stunky. After the battle, they went to the North of here."

Looker paused to think for a moment, "Oh, yes. Most helpful. Yes, you have been most helpful," Looker stammered out, looking to the North exit of town, "If you find anything else out about Team Galactic, please, tell me," He said, then dashed off to where the Galactic grunts had gone. Dawn and Lucas eyed each other, and broke into giggles at this odd man's behavior.

"Really, though," Dawn said, still holding back a laugh, "This 'Team Galactic' really sounds like a threat. I wonder what they're trying to accomplish… Hey, do you think this Team Galactic is the same one that was protesting in Sandgem that one day?"

"The one that was going on about a perfect world? I think they've probably changed since then, but yeah. Same organization. That's probably what they're trying to accomplish, too. A perfect world."

"Hmm… That's weird…" Dawn said, "I wonder how they'll do that by stealing Pokémon…"

"Maybe they're trying to remove all chance of opposition?" Lucas suggested grimly. The two went on talking about Team Galactic for a bit longer slowly walking through the city, then found themselves at the gate to Route 204. At the gate, they decided to part ways, to get to Floaroma Town faster.


	9. Chapter 9

Route 204 was nothing incredibly special, except for the cave in the middle of the route. To get through it, Dawn had to use the HM for Rock Smash, making the rocks in her path crumble.

Once she got out of the relatively short cave, Dawn could smell flowers, though she could see no more plants than normal on the ground. She had to battle a few more trainers, then reached a huge meadow of flowers, presumably the one she had smelled before. For a moment, she just stood at the edge of the meadow, and relaxed. Then, opening her eyes, she walked inside. Within the meadow, there were no trainers. Dawn had to walk for only a few minutes before she reached Floaroma Town.

In Floaroma Town, Dawn felt completely relaxed. It was all she could do not to lay down and take a nap. It had such a calming atmosphere to it. Within the town, other than all of the flowers on the ground, there were a few houses, a Pokémon Center and Mart, and another shop, that Dawn walked up to. A flower/berry shop. In the back of the town, amongst the trees, Dawn saw a pathway, with some people standing in it. Two of them looked vaguely familiar, but before Dawn could go investigate, a little girl ran into her.

After a moment, once the girl had recovered, she said, "Oh, I'm so sorry, miss!"

"Oh, it's alright," Dawn smiled at the girl, who smiled back.

"I was just looking for someone to help me. I think my Papa's in danger! We went off to his work this morning, to the Valley Windworks, just like normal, then these mysterious spaceman people showed up!" The little girl was getting more and more distressed by the minute, so Dawn knelt to the ground and held her hands.

"Yeah? What did they do?"

The girl sniffed, "They started bossing Papa around, telling him to give them all of the energy. Then they noticed me, and kicked me out. I tried to get back in, but they wouldn't let me. That's when I came back to the town."

"Oh, that's must have been terrible," Dawn said, thinking about how she could possibly help, "Well, why don't you take me to the Valley Windworks, and I'll see what I can do, okay?"

"Okay… Thank you, miss!"

Dawn laughed, "My name is Dawn, actually. And you're welcome," The girl, still holding Dawn's hand, walked in the direction of the windworks, "So, what did these mysterious people look like? I think I may have met them before…"

"Oh, well they were all wearing these weird spacesuit things, like I said," At this, Dawn was worried, this girl's father could be in real danger, "There were four people with blueish-greenish hair, one girl with bright red hair, and one old guy with, like, brownish-pink hair. He kinda looked like science. The one with red hair was the one who was bossing everyone around."

Dawn figured that meant four Team Galactic grunts, and two other people. Probably commanding officers, one of whom was a scientist. As the two walked away from Floaroma, the flowers thinned out, until they reached normal levels. Once they reached the windworks, a small building surrounded by wind mills, the little girl pointed to someone standing at the door.

"There! There's one of the people!" Dawn looked more closely at the person and, as she had guessed, saw a Team Galactic grunt.

"Alright, you stay here. I don't want anything happening to you," She said to the little girl, who nodded, and sat down. Dawn walked up to the grunt, who stiffened upon seeing her.

"What's your name and business here?" He demanded, in a slick, slimy sounding voice.

"My name is Dawn," he motioned for her to continue, "Dawn _Moore_. I'd like to go inside the windworks, please," Dawn said, trying to keep her dislike for Team Galactic from seeping into her voice too much.

"I'm sorry, Ms. Moore, but the Valley Windworks are not open to the public at this time," He said, seemingly relishing every word he said while he was in charge.

"Oh, really?" She asked, "Why is that?"

"Oh, nothing a normal, non-Team Galactic, person would need to worry about," The grunt gave a sly smile, then narrowed his eyes, "You know, you seem like the kind of person who's going to try to get into the windworks on your own, even though I've told you not to… I think I'm going to have to stop that from happening," The grunt pulled out a Poké Ball, "Go, Zubat!"

"So this is how this is going to go… Go, Nala! Use Spark!"

"No, Zubat! Dodge that! Use Supersonic!" By the time the grunt said this command, Nala had already used her move, and knocked out the Zubat. The grunt's next Zubat went down in the same way, and then the battle was over. Once the battle ended, the grunt's giving Dawn her money was interrupted by Nala shining, lighting up the whole area. This went on for about a minute, during which other trainers came into the area to see what was going on. The light kept on getting brighter as the minute went on, eventually making it impossible to even see Nala.

Once the light faded, much faster than it had appeared, Nala's form had changed. No longer was she a Shinx, but now a larger, more powerful, Luxio. The crowd ooh-ed and aah-ed, and Dawn walked up to her newly evolved Pokémon. She stroked Nala's fur, and then, remembering who she had just battled, faced the grunt.

"So…" Dawn said to the Galactic grunt, who had not moved since Nala's evolution, "The key to the windworks, now," She said, holding out her free hand. Nala snarled menacingly, and the grunt looked incredibly intimidated.

"Never!" The grunt said, trying to sound triumphant. His voice did shake a bit, being in the presence of a newly evolved, angry, Luxio. He opened the door to the windworks, ran inside, and locked it, all in a matter of seconds, "Hah! Now her and her Pokémon will never get in! The only key is in here, with me!" She heard him say through the door, "Well, I guess there's the one my comrades in Floaroma meadow have, but they'll never hand it over!" Dawn, who had already begun to accept that she wouldn't be able to get into the windworks with a key, perked up again. Another key in the meadow… Dawn's head was already spinning with the possibilities of getting into the windworks.

She made her way back into Floaroma Town, the little girl in tow. Dawn sent the girl to wait in the Pokémon Center, so that she wouldn't be in danger, then walked to the back of the town - the entrance to the meadow. Once there, Dawn could hear the sounds of a fight. Walking forward, she saw two Galactic grunts - the two from before that she and Lucas had fought. They were harassing a man with their Pokémon, though so far, only Glameow was out. The other man was holding a jar, presumably full of golden honey.

"Alright, he's not going to hand it over. Glameow, get him," The male grunt from before said.

"No!" Dawn nearly leapt in front of the Glameow's Scratch attack, against her better judgment, in attempt to stop the attack from hitting the man with the honey. The attack missed Dawn, but hit the honey man on the arm. He grunted in pain, and dropped the jar he was holding, slowly sinking to the ground himself. The jar crashed to the ground, spraying the delicious food everywhere.

"I challenge you to a Pokémon battle," Dawn said, "Someone needs to teach you can't just go around hurting people like that! Go, Atlas and Nala!"

"Hmph. You're that girl from before, yes?" The female grunt said, sending out her Stunky, "We won't fall as easily to your silly tactics and strategies this time. Stunky, use Smokescreen!"

"Nala, before that happens, use Spark on the Stunky! Atlas, Razor Leaf on both Pokémon!"

"Glameow, scratch the Luxio," The first Pokémon to carry out its attack, Nala, charged up electricity in a ball in front of her, and tackled the Stunky. Because of the electricity in the attack, the Stunky became paralyzed. The Glameow, not affected by Nala's attack other than the bright light's after effects, scratched Nala. Nala cringed as the Glameow approached her, and after being hit, had a slightly vacant look in her eyes, sinking to the ground. As the Stunky let loose his Smokescreen, Dawn called out to Nala.

"Nala! Are you okay?" The only response Dawn got was Nala cradling her wound, and mewling. Dawn wondered why Nala was reacting so badly to such a minor injury (she had suffered worse, and not acted this strangely), then it hit her. The gash that Nala had when Dawn found her could have been made by a Glameow's Scratch attack—

Dawn's thoughts were interrupted by Atlas' attack hitting both Pokémon, and knocking out the Glameow.

Still concerned for Nala, Dawn said, "Atlas, great job! Use Razor Leaf again! Nala, come back, you did great. Go Drew!" Dawn carefully put Nala's Poké Ball into her bag's designated spot, and gave her full attention to the battle.

The female grunt had barely said her command ("Stunky, Poison Gas,") before Atlas had knocked it out with Razor Leaf.

"Great job, Atlas!" Dawn said, as she retrieved her two Pokémon, "And you two. Hand over the key to the windworks."

"What?! How did you even know we had that?" The male grunt said. Dawn smiling smugly, shrugged her shoulders, and the grunt continued, "Well, never mind that. You'll never get this key," The grunt grabbed the key, and held it in his hand, taunting Dawn. She knew that he wanted her to grab at it, so that he could pull it away. Dawn did this, and the grunts, satisfied, ran back to the Valley Windworks.

Dawn looked at the honey man, who had apparently recovered during the battle. He stood where he had been sitting before, looking amused. In his hand, he held a key, with the word "Windworks" written on it. He handed Dawn the key. As Dawn attempted to tend to his injury, (the least she could do, after he got her the key) he explained what had happened. He had seen the key in the grunt's back pocket, and taken it, replacing it with another key of similar size and shape.

"Thank you for helping with my injury, but I need you to know: I got you that key so that you could stop Team Galactic's mission at the Valley Windworks, whatever that may be. Can you do that?"

"Yes, sir, thank you so much," Dawn, after another minute of two, went on her way. She walked straight for the Pokémon Center, still wondering what had happened to Nala. Once all of her Pokémon had been healed up, Dawn released Nala. She looked shaken up, but nothing worse than that.

"Hey, Nala. What happened to you during that battle?" Dawn asked carefully, "Why did you become so…" Dawn searched for the right word, "scared?"

Nala, unable to speak human words, simply pointed to her left side with her nose, licking the spot where her gash had been.

"Your wound that you had when I found you?" Nala nodded yes, "Yeah, that's what I thought. Did that Glameow remind you of whatever Pokémon wounded you? Or was it that Glameow that did it?" Dawn clenched her hands into fists, suddenly angry at the Pokémon that had hurt Nala.

Nala shook her head yes, then no. Dawn took that as, _Yes, the Glameow was similar, but no, it wasn't that exact one that injured me._

"Alright, and you're sure you're okay now?" Nala nodded yes, once again, "Alright, we'll make sure it doesn't happen again," Nala nodded, and Dawn assembled all of her Pokémon, "Alright, team. If you haven't already figured it out, we're going to fight Team Galactic again. I don't know how closely they follow the rules of battling and Pokémon ownership, but I will do whatever it takes to keep you all in my possession, and as safe as possible. Even if it means forfeiting a battle. Now for your part, I'd like you to keep close to me if you're out of you Poké Ball, and follow exactly what I say. Okay?"

In response, Dawn got varying degrees of acceptance. Atlas nodded, and jumped into a play fighting stance. Nala joined him, and they began to play. Drew, looking bored, simply blinked, and gave Dawn an almost imperceptible nod. Dawn, smiling, shook her head at her Pokémon's unique personalities, and how well they worked together because of them. For the moment, she decided to forgo Poké Balls, and let her Pokémon walk beside her until they got to the windworks.

"Alright," she said, "Let's go!"


	10. Chapter 10

As Dawn made her way towards the Valley Windworks with her Pokémon, she saw quite a commotion going on. There were three Galactic grunts standing in front of the door to the building, speaking to each other in an animated conversation. They were the three grunts she had met so far, the ones she had fought with Lucas, and the one who was guarding the door earlier. Dawn partially hid herself behind a bush, as did her Pokémon, as the grunts spoke. After a moment, they all walked inside, the two that she and Lucas had fought hanging their heads low. Dawn recognized this as a perfect time to enter, because no one was guarding the door, so she approached the building.

As she walked towards the Valley Windworks, Dawn retrieved all of her Pokémon, and got the key out of her bag. She opened the door with ease, and walked into the windworks. Inside, she saw a sterile, while hallway, that turned to the right about ten feet in. Dawn was the only person in the room for a moment, but then she saw the door guard saunter in. When he saw her, he yelped, his body stiffening with fear, and reached for his Poké Ball. When he realized he didn't have it anymore, he scowled.

"Argh. If the Commander hadn't taken away my Pokémon, I would have beaten you to the ground already! I guess I'll just have to live with reporting you to the Commander, though," With this, the grunt sprinted around the corner, going deeper into the windworks. After a moment of nervous hesitation, Dawn followed him, her hand hovering over her Poké Balls.

Around the corner, Dawn saw a room, containing large pieces of machinery. Dawn figured they were what hooked up to the wind mills, and created the energy that the Valley Windworks made its money off of. In the room, there was a Galactic grunt, on guard because of the alarm the door guard raised.

"Hey, you're not supposed to be here! Go Glameow!" The guard said in a loud, high pitched, and distinctly female voice.

"We'll see about that. Go Drew!" Drew burst out of his Poké Ball, and, seeing the Glameow, went into a battle stance, "Use Bite!"

"Glameow, use Growl!" The Glameow, in the moments before Drew's Bite hit, growled, making Drew hesitate in his attack. The attack hit, though with slightly less power than it would have.

"Drew, one more time! Bite!" Drew was moving before Dawn even said her command, though he carried out a Leech Life attack, rather than a Bite. His attack sent a poison thorn at the Glameow, which stayed embedded in its fur for a moment, then came back to Drew, with some of the Glameow's heath stored inside. Dawn grunted in frustration. Drew's attack hadn't done very much damage at all, unlike the Bite would have.

"Scratch!" The Glameow jumped at Drew, surprising him, and had, in moments, knocked him out.

"Drew!" Dawn cursed under her breath, "Come back, Drew! Go Atlas!" Glameow's attack did little damage to Atlas, who knocked the Glameow out with ease.

Handing Dawn her winnings, the grunt scoffed, "Even though I lost, I served my purpose. Commander Mars told me herself that if an unknown visitor came, I had to stall their battle for as long as possible, so the Commander could ready herself for battle. Now, once she beats you, I'll be in her good graces."

Dawn simply assured the grunt, a girl that couldn't have been older than Dawn herself, that she would be the one who came away from the battle victorious. Walking out of the electricity room, Dawn walked into an office. It had a desk with a computer, a few chairs in front of the desk, and a book case.

There were five people in the room. One person, tied to a chair in the corner, was wearing a business suit. He couldn't be anyone but the little girl's father, the owner of the windworks. There were two people behind the desk, one standing looking at the computer screen intensely, and one sitting. The one who was standing had an almost purple-brown hair, like the girl said, and was wearing a lab coat and protective goggles. He also looked like the older of the two by quite a bit. Dawn couldn't imagine why he wore the lab gear, because there were no dangerous experiments or anything like that going on nearby. The person sitting in the chair, rather impatiently, had red hair — as red as magma — and eyes to match. She wore a variation of the Galactic Grunt uniform that ended as a skirt. The sleeves were dark gray, and the front was white. There were also two Galactic grunts, the ones from the meadow, standing in front of the desk. They looked ashamed, as if they had been caught stealing candy from the off-limits candy jar.

"Ah, here she is," The red haired commander said, "Our special guest. Sit, my dear," She gestured to the chairs that the grunts were sitting in, letting her eyes rest on the chair's occupants, "You two, make yourselves scarce."

"Y-yes, Commander Mars," The male grunt said with a salute. Before leaving the room, he shot Dawn a glare.

"Ah, yes," Mars said, getting up out of her chair, "The legendary trainer. You know, you've been the talk of the Team. 'The unbeatable trainer' the underlings call you," Mars had, by this point, reached the middle of the room, standing in front of the desk, while Dawn was still by the door, "Well, I think your meddling in the affairs of Team Galactic has to be put to an end. You know, it won't do to have quite simply, a child, defeating, my grunts left and right," Both trainer's hands were hovering over their Poké Balls, though Dawn's was shaking slightly with fear, "So, with pleasantries out of the way, I, Team Galactic's Commander Mars, challenge you to a Pokémon battle! Go, Zubat!"

"Go, Nala!" Dawn said. She realized that Drew was still incapable of battling. It would just be Atlas and Nala, in this fight.

"Zubat, use Toxic," Mars said nonchalantly.

"No! Nala, dodge that!" As the Zubat launched a large blob of potentially deadly poison, Nala stood her ground, ready to pounce out of the way.

"Once that's done, use Spark!" Dawn said as Nala jumped out of the way of the Zubat's attack.

"Ugh! Zubat, this is what you've been training for! Use Toxic! And, if you can manage it, hit the Luxio!" For a moment, Nala looked for an opening in the Zubat's defense, just as the Zubat did to her. Out of nowhere, Nala charged her paws with electricity, and jumped towards the Zubat. The attack, while successful in knocking the Zubat out, left Nala defenseless as she jumped. In the split second that Nala was jumping, the Zubat fired Toxic, hitting Nala on her chest.

"Nala!" Dawn said scrambling around in her bag for an Antidote. She didn't find one. She noticed that even now, so soon after the Toxic attack, the poison was affecting Nala. It damaged her every few seconds, and weakened her considerably, "Come back, Nala! Go on, Atlas!"

Mars sighed, "Weakling. Go, Purugly!"

"Atlas, use Razor Leaf!" Before Mars even had a chance to speak, Atlas launched his attack, shooting razor sharp leaves that embedded themselves in Purugly's coat.

"Ack! Use Fake Out! Go for the flinch!" The Purugly, barely affected by Atlas's Razor Leaf, swiped her claws mere centimeters away from Atlas's face. Atlas, though not physically affected by the attack, cringed backwards, unable to attack for a moment, "Now! Feint Attack!" The Purugly, almost leisurely, approached Atlas, skirting to his right. He kept his eyes trained on her, but was, for a moment, unable to move. In a flurry of fur and claws, the Purugly jumped to the left, and attacked Atlas. Atlas was completely unprepared for an attack from the left, and was forced backwards, closer to Dawn, because of it. It looked as if he wouldn't be able to battle if he was hit with another Feint Attack, so Dawn decided to heal him. Dawn reached into her bag, and pulled out a Potion.

"Atlas, take this!" Dawn said, as she crouched down and held the Potion out to her Pokémon. Dawn quickly sprayed Atlas's wounds with the healing cream, and he resumed the battle.

"Purugly! Use Scratch!"

"Atlas! Dodge it! Then use Razor Leaf!" The Purugly lunged forward, claws outstretched and aimed at Atlas's face. Atlas attempted to dodge to the right, but the Purugly out predicted him, and landed a direct hit. Atlas, still recovering from the hit, shot volley after volley of razor sharp leaves at the big cat. They were doing a small amount of damage to Purugly, but it had added up, and now the Purugly was close enough to being knocked out.

"One more Razor Leaf, Atlas!"

"Purugly!" Mars sounded angry, at this point, "Shake off those leaves, and crush that little worm! This battle should be over by now!" For a moment, Purugly looked ashamed, then that morphed into anger. It shook the leaves that were still on it's coat off, then charged Atlas with another Feint Attack. This time, though, the Purugly was angry. At Mars, for yelling at it, and at Atlas, for embarrassing it. This anger made Purugly slightly sloppy in her attack. Atlas was able to dodge it with ease, and retaliate with a Razor Leaf.

"Great job!" Dawn yelled, "Now finish her off with Bite!" Atlas jumped forward, jaws open, in his Bite attack. Purugly tried to dodge, and succeeded, but it wasn't enough. Commander Mars had lost.

"What?! I lost? You… you uppity brat!" Mars said.

The man in the corner, the one who looked like a scientist, spoke for the first time. His voice sounded high pitched, with a slight accent, "My, my, Mars. You've lost to a child. No matter, though. Luckily for you, it seems that we've collected the amount of energy necessary to complete our project."

"You mean the one you know nothing about?! Except for a few numbers, you know nothing about Master's plan. Remember who's in charge, here, Mr. Smarty Pants." Mars, looking very arrogant, flipped her hair to the side.

"I may not know the specifics, but with the power we've obtained, I know we can do something quite spectacular. It seems obvious to me, Charon, that the boss has created a genius plan. Now, Mars, we should be going."

Mars scoffed, "Don't think you can order me around just because you're a little smarter than me. According to seniority, only the Master can boss me around. So shut it," Mars allowed herself a smile at Charon's expense, then looked at Dawn again, "This is your last chance. Join Team Galactic, or perish with this incomplete world."

Dawn's mind was spinning. Perish with this incomplete world? What did Team Galactic plan to do? Why would they want to destroy this world? How?! In response to Mars, though, Dawn just shook her head, scowling, and tried not to let the confusion show on her face. Evidently, it had not worked

"Ah, so you're confused. That's okay. If I'm right about you, you'll know in time."

Again, a flood of questions entered Dawn's mind. Right about what? Before Dawn could ask any of her questions, though, Mars and Charon had left the room, bringing with them everything that belonged to them. Breaking out of her momentary daze, Dawn remembered the owner of the windworks, and went over to him. She untied his bonds, starting with his mouth so they could talk.

"Thank you, miss. The bravery you showed when fighting off Team Galactic was incredible. I must ask, though, how did you know something was amiss here? Did you see the 'underlings' first?

"No, actually," Dawn started, "Your daughter found me. In fact, I'll call the Pokémon Center now, and tell them to send her over."

"Oh, thank you," The man said, real, sincere, gratitude showing in his eyes.

...

After a few hours, Dawn walked out of the windworks. In the time since her defeat of Commander Mars, Dawn had reunited the family of the windworks worker, helped clean up the windworks, looked around for any signs of where Team Galactic had gone, and, of course, thought about everything that had happened that day. Now, though, it was evening. Dawn had decided to get a room at the Floaroma Town Pokémon Center, so she was heading there.

As she left the windworks, though, she literally ran into Looker, who was barreling towards the door.

"What the…" Dawn recovered from the shock of being ran into, then continued, "Oh, hello. Are you here because of Team Galactic?"

"Ah, yes. I heard that the Team Galactic appeared here, and have, thus, come running. So, Team Galactic… where did they go off to?"

Dawn decided to relay the events of the day to Looker, because of his status as a member of the Interregional Police, and because she wanted to share her thoughts with another living being.

"You are responsible for the safety of this building and its inhabitants? You must be a master trainer, no?"

"Actually, I'm not. I just started my career as a trainer recently, and I'm not all that impressive. I just won a few battles, that's all."

"Non, non. I am sure you are a master trainer, through and through. Very well. I shall investigate inside!"

"Well, we just cleaned up in there actually, and there's not much to see," Dawn said in attempt to shield the family of the windworks worker from the public eye a little longer. And because it was true.

"Very well. I shall… pursue the culprits! I have received a tip that there is a Team Galactic Headquarters in Eterna City. I must investigate this!" Looker said, sprinting off in the opposite direction. Dawn, still slightly jarred from her encounter with Looker, made her way back to Floaroma Town. Once she reached the Pokémon Center, she rented her room, and healed her Pokémon, not lingering very long in the lobby.

In her room, she let out her Pokémon as usual, letting them settle in the room. She let Atlas and Nala catch Drew up with what happened at the windworks, then signaled him over to her.

"Hey, Drew. How you feeling, after getting knocked out earlier?" Drew flapped his wings a little faster for a moment, making him rise up in the air, "So… what was up with you in the windworks?" Dawn hadn't expected an answer, but still saw his wings move in what looked like a shrug, "Well, whatever it was, it wasn't okay. If I say to do something in a battle, it's probably with your best interests at heart. If you disagree with something I do, tell me. Please, I'd love to know if you disagree with something I'm doing, just don't act out your preferred strategy during the battle." As much as a Zubat can, Drew hunched his shoulders, "A miscommunication in battle in one of the ways a Pokémon can get seriously injured. The whole team needs to do this together."

To Dawn's dismay, Drew just flew away after she was done. He didn't seem to care about what she said, which made her frustrated. She drifted off to sleep trying to come up with a way to connect with him.

...

A/N: Oh my goodness, ten chapters already. Wow. Sorry I was a little late posting this (okay, a lot late), but life happened. Anyways, speaking of not updating, updates may be farther and fewer between for a bit, because school started for me. *gasp* Also, I can't write this fanfiction on weekends anymore, so that will also slow progress. Anyways, thanks again for you support of this story, faithful reader!


	11. Chapter 11

Dawn walked onto Route 205, located just north of the path leading to the Valley Windworks, with Atlas by her side. She figured that it was good to let her Pokémon out of their Poké Balls to walk sometimes, and she wanted someone to talk to. She was rambling about her childhood. Silly moments with Barry and some of her other friends, memories of her mother, and the rare snippets of time that she was allowed to spend with Pokémon before she got her trainer's license and met Atlas. Overall, happy memories. They put Dawn in a good mood.

Walking through the route, Dawn didn't run into very many trainers. It was somewhat early in the morning, so they probably weren't all awake. This made it very serene, along with the quiet stream that ran through the more rocky section of the route. She battled her way through the route with ease, though when she reached the end of the route, all she saw was a dense wall of trees, that she knew belonged to Eterna Regional Forest. According to all of the pictures she'd seen, it was a beautiful forest, and a Regional Park. There were no trainers around, so Dawn decided to backtrack a bit, until she saw a house she'd remembered from earlier. She hadn't approached it earlier, but now it didn't seem like there was a choice. She walked up to it, and knocked on the door. She heard rustling, and then the door was open.

"Hello?" The owner of the house was a young lady, holding a pink book to her chest, "Is there anything I can do for you?"

"Uhh, yeah, actually. I'm a trainer. I was just passing through the route. I'm trying to get to Eterna City, and I couldn't find a way past those trees about a half mile that way," Dawn pointed, "Is there any way to get into the forest?"

"Oh, you're a trainer! Come in, I can heal your Pokémon and draw you a map," Dawn retrieved Atlas into his Poké Ball, walked inside, and sat in the living room, while the woman took her Poké Balls into another room, "I'm training to become a Pokémon Center Nurse, so this is perfect practice!" When she came back, she drew the map, and sent Dawn on her way. Apparently, there was a way into the forest that was located next to a rock that looked like a Snorlax.

Dawn walked along the tree line, until she saw the rock, and next to it, and well worn path. She didn't know how she had missed it before. When she walked into it, in the process of turning on her Pokétch's flashlight, she ran straight into somebody.

"Oh, I'm so sorry! I didn't see you here in the dark. Are you okay?" Dawn asked.

"I'm fine, but… Dawn, is that you?" The figure, having recovered from being bumped into, turned around to face Dawn. Her face was instantly recognizable as Cheryl, a childhood friend of Dawn's, who had moved to Eterna when they were 9. Cheryl looked just like she did when Dawn had seen her last. Skinny as a twig, long green hair, and brown, caring eyes.

"Cheryl?! Oh my goodness, I haven't seen you in ages! How is everything?"

"Oh… fine. Me and Chansey were just going home through the forest, but now I've heard some rumors that Team Galactic is in the area, and I'm kinda… nervous."

"Really?" Dawn was slightly amazed that the news had traveled that fast, "Well, I actually saw them at the Valley Windworks. They're not all that threatening." Dawn knew that they might be a little more than just "not all that threatening," with all that talk about a people dying, but she wanted to put Cheryl at ease.

"Oh… really? Well, that's good. Anyways, what are you doing here?"

"Just passing through. I need to get to Eterna, too. I'm taking the League challenge with Barry and Lucas, and that's where our next stop is."

Cheryl sighed, "That'd be fun. To travel around Sinnoh, battling people, and bonding with your Pokémon. Anyways, you want to go through the forest together? It'll be easier with two people, and Chansey can heal your Pokémon."

"Sure, sounds great!" Dawn and Cheryl started to walk forward. After a few minutes of walking, and chatting about how life had been, they were interrupted.

"Hey! You two! Battle me and my army of super-strong bug-type Pokémon!" The school age child who had spoken was holding a bug catching net and various other bug catching implements.

"Yeah, me and my Pachirisu are unstoppable!" A girl, standing across from the boy, said.

"I…" Cheryl shot Dawn a nervous glance. Dawn nodded in what she thought was encouragement, hoping to accept the challenge, "A-alright… Go Chansey!"

"Okay, let's battle! Go, Atlas!" Both Dawn and Cheryl's Pokémon were sent out. Atlas looked around the forest for a moment, then turned his attention to the opposing Pokémon. A Pachirisu, an adorable electric squirrel, and a Wurmple, a bug type Pokémon that was incredibly common in forested areas.

"Alright, Atlas, use Razor Leaf on the Pachirisu!"

"Chansey, use Egg Bomb on the Wurmple."

"WURMPLE! Use STRING SHOT! Aim for the Turtwig!"

"Pachirisu, use Spark on the Turtwig!" Upon hearing its command, Pachirisu shot forward and, charged with electricity, slammed into Atlas. By the time that had happened, Chansey had prepared its Egg Bomb attack, and threw it at the Wurmple, knocking the bug type out. Atlas, recovered from the Spark, shot a Razor Leaf at the Pachirisu, knocking it out.

"No!" The girl who owned the Pachirisu yelled, "Not my poor Pokemon!"

"Wurmple! Come back! You were a disgrace to the incredible bug type… Go, Silcoon!"

And so the battle went, with Atlas and Chansey working together to take out the Bug Catcher's final two Pokémon. After the battle, Cheryl and Dawn continued to go through the forest, stopping and battling all of the trainers they saw, though there weren't very many.

"This is about the normal amount of people that are in the forest at one time," Cheryl explained, "There are rumors about the Old Chateau, near the Eterna City side entrance to the forest. People think it's haunted by ghost type Pokémon, or maybe even real ghosts. Since the forest is so close, the rumors just spread out to it."

"Really? Sounds kind of cool! Have you ever been there? What's inside? Does anybody live-"

"Uhh, well, actually, I've never been inside…" This prompted a "Really?!" from Dawn, but Cheryl just kept talking, "Well, I mean, there's nothing of interest to me in there. I hear that there's some rare Pokémon, or something, but that's not all that important to a Pokémon Center Nurse in training, you know? Especially because it's probably a ghost type…"

"Well, it sounds cool to me. Can you show me where it is?" Dawn asked. Cheryl nodded her head, though she looked slightly uncomfortable. Dawn continued talking, "Did you want to see inside? I know there's no need, but it might be fun."

Cheryl squirmed for a moment, then said, "No, I think it'll be easier without an extra person." Dawn suspected that she was just uncomfortable around the ghosts, though not just because of what Cheryl had said. Dawn had a strong gut feeling, could almost feel Cheryl's nervousness. Not just because of her regular empathy, either. There was something… odd about it.

Once Dawn and Cheryl got to a point in the forest where Dawn could see the sunlight streaming through the exit, they parted ways.

"Alright, well, I know you wanted to explore the Old Chateau, and I've got to get home, so, bye! Call me once you get into the city, and I can show you around." They traded Pokétch numbers, and then Cheryl ran ahead, towards the exit, and Eterna City.

As Dawn walked up to the Old Chateau, she noticed something. The bushes that were originally decorative had taken over in a massive jumble of plants. There was a hedge-like plant that had uprooted an archway, as well as some ivy that was covering it. The plants were so thick, Dawn couldn't see anything past them. After a few minutes of looking (futilely) for a way around, she noticed the lack of light, and hurriedly checked the time. Almost 12:00, a time symbolic for supernatural things.

Dawn rushed out of the forest, and identified the city's Pokémon Center by its red roof. She rented a room for her and her Pokémon, decided to find Cheryl in the morning, and fell asleep.

* * *

"And this is the Cycle Shop. It sells bicycles, roller-blades; anything with wheels. Though I think the owner recently left for an unannounced trip." Cheryl continued walking, as she had stopped when pointing out the Cycle Shop. She was showing Dawn around Eterna City. They had already looked at the condominiums, where Cheryl lived, and the Pokémon Gym, and they were headed towards the business district.

"So this building is new," Cheryl said, pointing at the biggest building in the area, "The current owners built it earlier this year, totally unannounced. Nobody's really sure what happens inside of it, except that it's a office building. They're really vague about everything. They built up this hedge around it so that nobody can get in unless they know about some secret entrance or something."

"That's odd." Dawn considered the building. It had four floors, a small number compared to those around it. The feature that made it so much bigger than everything else was a satellite on the roof. It was almost like a flying saucer had landed atop the building. Gray and yellow in coloring, it cast an ominous shadow on the street. Dawn decided that though it was pretty suspicious, it wasn't worth her worry. Cheryl confirmed Dawn's decision, saying that it probably wasn't important for her.

As they walked through the bustling streets of Eterna, Cheryl pointed out that they were near Eterna Park, "It's the main center for everything that happens in town. There's an indoor auditorium, picnic tables, grills. It's pretty cool. There's also a statue of an ancient Pokémon that I know you'll like." After a bit of walking, the park came into the view of the two girls. It was a lush, but contained version of an Eterna Forest clearing.

"Wow, that's really pretty. I can see why you like coming here."

Cheryl nodded her head at Dawn's remark, "Yeah, it's one of the few parts of the forest we have inside of town. I love it here," Cheryl trailed off, "Oh, I'll show you that statue!"

As it happened, someone else was looking at, and blocking, the statue before the girls walked up. His cyan blue hair and regal demeanor looked familiar, but Dawn couldn't figure out who he was. Or why he gave her such a nervous feeling in her stomach.

As Dawn walked up to the statue's base, which had an interesting looking plaque on it, the man noticed them, though he didn't turn to them, "Eterna's Pokémon statue… It represents time and space, the two things that shape our world. They are revered here in Sinnoh, but what of the third? This needs investigating…" Dawn recognized his commanding voice immediately. Cyrus. The man from Lake Verity. She didn't even have time to panic or do anything before he moved away.

"Pardon me. Stand aside," He had forced his way through Cheryl and Dawn before he had even finished speaking, and was out of sight soon after. Dawn might have run after him had she not been trapped in place, wondering what he was doing.

"Well, that was odd," Cheryl said, perplexed, "But he did have a point. The statue here is based on time and space. The two beings that were fused to create the one on the statue are the creators of time and space. I don't know what he was talking about with a third one, though. As far as I know, there's just two beings. Time and space. There used to be an inscription about the legend on the plaque there, but it was torn off by vandals."

Dawn thought for a moment about the legend with the space and time Pokémon, wondering what kind of third Pokémon could round out the trio. She was still playing around with the idea when Cheryl pulled her away to look at the rest of the town.

* * *

So, back when I said this would be updated less frequently? Yeah, that was an understatement. I'm still slowly but surely plugging away at this fic, but man, do I take forever to write. Anyways, hopefully breaks in the future won't be this long. Hope you enjoyed!


	12. Chapter 12

"Alright, guys," Dawn had her team in a meeting, right outside the Pokémon Center she was staying in. Drew was unusually chipper, flying back and forth between the Eterna Pokémon Gym and Dawn. Dawn was okay with the weird behavior, if only because she knew it would make her Pokémon more energetic for the upcoming Gym battle. The others, as always, were roughhousing, practicing the moves they had learned for the gym.

"We've already been over strategy, you're all strong enough," Dawn was going through the pre-gym checklist that had been drilled into her head during trainer school, "we definitely have enough Potions… What are you all holding?"

Drew, unwilling to hold anything, continued to fly around. Atlas held out a Pecha Berry, to be used if he was poisoned, and Nala has an Oran Berry. Dawn's plan, though, was to primarily use Drew in the gym, since he had a type advantage against the grass-types. Dawn finished her list, rounded up her team into their respective Poké Balls, and left for the gym.

As Dawn walked into the gym, the smell of flowers overwhelmed her. Seeking to understand why, she quickly made her way past the entrance room (identical to the one on Oreburgh City's gym), signed up for a battle, then walked into the main body of the gym. There were flowers everywhere, just like in Floaroma Town. Unlike Floaroma Town, though, the flowers smelled _too_ strong, almost sickly sweet. She immediately went to cover her nose and mouth, but realized that she'd have to be in the gym for too much time to do that the whole time. Dawn didn't focus on the flowers for too long, though, because of the giant clock lying in the middle of the room.

It was huge - the arms alone big enough for Dawn to safely walk to the center of the clock. The backboard of the clock was, unsurprisingly, covered by flowers too. As Dawn shuffled farther into the gym, she saw a figure approaching, walking across the arms of the clock.

"Hello," the girl, who Dawn could now see was not much older than her, with a youthful face, and a twenty-something's slightly arrogant confidence, looked up from her Pokétch "So you've come to challenge me, right? I'm Gardenia," she held out her hand, and Dawn introduced herself, "There's something you should know about my gym. The trainers each have a way to turn the arms of the clock to a certain time. For them to do that, though, you have to beat them in an Pokémon battle. Something I'm _sure_ you'll be able to do," Gardenia looked pleased with herself, "Well, get to it. I'll be waiting in the back of the gym," Gardenia walked to the back of the gym, and hit a button on her Pokétch. The arms of the clock moved, slowly but surely, until they formed a new path, leading to one of four pathways to the sides of the gym. Dawn, quickly making sure her Pokémon were in order (more a nervous habit than anything, at this point), walked down the new path.

"I assume you want to battle. I guess I can spare a minute of my time, as long as your mangy Pokémon don't mess up my look," The girl that had appeared at the end of the pathway flipped her long blonde hair, "Budew would never mess up my look, would you, little guy?" The girl's Budew shook his head, and the girl looked up triumphant, "That's right. Now, go win this battle for me!"

Dawn, slightly confused, sent out Drew, who was able to knock the Budew out with one Wing Attack. The girl, if a little saddened by her defeat, pressed the same button on her Pokétch and Gardenia had, and the clock moved to open up one of the other paths.

Once the girl she had just battled was out of sight, Dawn silently celebrated her easy victory, "If every battle goes this well, I won't have to worry about the leader at all!" Dawn was hopeful that she would indeed do that well, and, proving herself right, skillfully progressed through the two other side paths. Soon enough, she faced Gardenia herself. The leader sat against the wall on the far side of the arena, talking on her Pokétch. By the happy look on her face, she was talking to a friend. As Dawn approached, she heard the tail end of the conversation.

"Oh, that challenger from earlier is here. Gotta go, Aaron," She rose from the ground, hung up the Pokétch, and looked at Dawn, as did some of the people in the gym battle-viewing room, "So, here to battle? Well, if you're ready, let's go! Let the battle for the Forest Badge begin!" Gardenia pulled out a Poké Ball, "Go, Turtwig!"

"Drew, you've got this! Use Wing Attack!"

Gardenia's Turtwig braced itself for the attack, and Gardenia directed it to use Growth. Unfortunately for it, Drew was able to knock it out in just one more turn.

"Hmm. You're doing okay," Gardenia nodded slowly, as if in deep thought, "Go for it, Cherrim."

"Drew, use Wing Attack again!" Drew lunged forward at the Cherrim, and hit it over the head with his wing. The Cherrim went out in one hit.

"Ugh." Gardenia balled her hand into a fist, "This battle is just _not_ going my way. Roserade, this is your time to shine. Stun Spore!" Roserade emerged from its Poké Ball, and elegantly raised its two roses, shaking only one of them, sending paralysis-inducing spores into the air. Drew tried to send a gust of wind at the Roserade, to redirect the attack, but there was nothing he could do. Before the attack hit, though, he was able to hit the Roserade with a Wing Attack, as per Dawn's instruction. Eventually, though, the inevitable happened, and the spores made their way to an unhappy Drew. He went rigid, able to move his wings and keep flying, but not much more. After a moment, he was able to move again, though until the paralysis was cured, his speed would be severely limited, and he might have another episode at any time.

"Drew! Are you okay?" She got out a Paralyze Heal, but Drew didn't seem to need it, and he probably wouldn't have taken it anyways, "Can you use Wing Attack for me?" He might as well have rolled his eyes, for all of the sass in his expression.

He was too slow to move before the Roserade, but he took the Magical Leaf well, and used Wing Attack for the KO. Gardenia gathered her Pokémon, as did Dawn, and she was presented with the gym's badge.

"Good job! I don't think anyone's been able to beat me that easily since… I don't even know when. Anyways, here you are. The Pokémon League Forest Badge." Gardenia casually held out an object much like the Coal Badge she had gotten from Roark. A small, metal object, the Forest Badge had three metallic green squares on it, arranged in a triangle. At the bottom tip of each square was a gray triangle, that looked to Dawn like a tall pine tree. She made a space for it in her badge case, "Also, you can use Cut outside of battle now! Any hedges that get in your way can be cut down by your Pokémon, as long as it has some kind of sharp blade or wing."

Dawn said thank you to Gardenia, and made her way out of the gym, walking through the crowd that had formed. On her way out, Gardenia stopped her.

"I almost forgot! Here's your TM," The leader handed Dawn a TM disc, but before she could get a good look at it, Gardenia sated her curiosity, "It's Grass Knot. The move gets more powerful the heavier your opponent is. I like using it, because it reminds me that even smaller grass-type Pokémon can gain the advantage over huge adversaries."

Dawn nodded. She knew what the leader meant. Even tiny Pokémon, like her Atlas, Nala, and Drew, could get an advantage over bigger, more powerful, or even better trained Pokémon, "Thanks. It was a good battle." Gardenia nodded, and then the two girls parted ways.

As Dawn went outside, though, there was a commotion going on. There were Team Galactic grunts carrying squirming Pokémon, and running into the huge building she had seen with Cheryl earlier. There was a small crowd outside the building, who seemed to be protesting. Looking over the crowd, Dawn felt a wave of sadness hit her. She felt that choking sensation in her throat, that signaled that she was about to start crying. Dawn chalked it up to homesickness, and did her best to swallow the feeling. Getting over her moment of sadness, Dawn spotted Cheryl, and walked over to her friend.

"What's going on?" Dawn had waded through the crowd of people, and reached Cheryl, only to find that her face was streaked with tears.

She sniffled, "Well, those guys in the weird outfits, who were going into that building? They stole my poor Chansey! I already tried to recall her to her Poké Ball, but I guess she's too far away or something, because nothing's working! What if they do all sorts of horrible things to her?! What if there's ghosts?! What if they somehow turn Chansey _into_ a ghost?! I wouldn't know what to do with myself! So I'm trying to help in the best way I can think of, by protesting. Maybe if there's enough people, we'll draw the attention of the police or something."

"Wait, so they stole your Chansey? Why haven't you _already_ called the police?"

"Well, I think someone did, but the police didn't believe them. The police think that this building is totally safe, and there's nothing weird going on. But of course we know otherwise…"

"The police aren't even helping… Wow. I wonder where Looker is… He did mention something about a Galactic headquarters in Eterna City… Well, either way, something has to be done! I've battled Team Galactic before. Why can't I do the same now?" Dawn wasn't even talking to Cheryl anymore, who was already long gone in her thoughts, "If I go in there, I can probably stop Team Galactic for good! Maybe there's an important commander or something in there. If I took them out, I'd be able to get all of these people's Pokémon back to safety. That's it! I'm going in."

Dawn walked back to the Pokémon Center - she wouldn't be able to do anything with all of those people around - and briefed her team on her hastily put together plan. As usual, all but Drew were excited to take Team Galactic down. Dawn thought he would have been more excited to battle them again, since one of their grunts had defeated him at the Valley Windworks. Drew was a strange Pokémon, and Dawn didn't think she'd ever fully understand his thought process.

Around 9:00, once all of the protesters had reluctantly gone home, Dawn went up to the Team Galactic building. As she looked the structure up and down, a thought ran through her head, "Team Galactic doesn't stand a chance."


End file.
